Unconventional Way to Heal
by Arivania Moons
Summary: Jack never wanted to relive his past, never wanted to tell the Autobots about it. Unfortunately, fate has a way of making him talk. How? Why, by sending him to the past, of course! With no way home, Jack learns that no one is meant to handle burdens alone. This lesson comes from the most unlikely of caretakers, however, making him wonder just HOW the war could have ever started.
1. Prisoner

**I've been wanting to do a fanfic like this for forever! Don't worry- _The Twin_ is still my top priority as is _Picking up the Pieces of the Past_! I'm just really low on inspiration for those two stories right now and chose to get this out of my head.**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

"English."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dreams_

 **Note: I will be using Latin as a substitute for actual Cybertronian words as heard by Jack, though I will still bold it. I promise to leave translations at the bottom. I will be using "majstro dot com" for the single word translations. It appears to be a bit more reliable than Google Translate, but I am unsure of how reliable it actually is. Just giving you a heads up. Google Translate _will_ be used for phrases though!**

* * *

Pain. That was all he seemed to feel lately, ever since he came to this place. There was no doubt in his mind that it was some form of gladiatorial arena, something that made him shudder. He hated what they were forcing him to do, but he had to. The stupid thing around his neck seemed to dig into his nervous system, forcing him to obey whatever command they had. When he tried to resist the commands, which was also all the time, shocks were administered that caused him to spasm. They never let him die in a fight, but he did know that they were trying to force him to kill his opponent.

He was currently alone, allowed to reflect on the situation from inside his "cell", which was a clear box made of something akin to glass, but much stronger. If Jackson Darby was truly honest with himself, what had happened wasn't even Miko's fault to begin with. If he was honest, it was his fault for trying to impress Sierra and staying on Arcee for too long. Even so, how would he have been able to know that she was a giant alien robot?

It was why Jack wasn't honest with himself and this was all Miko's fault. Miko always insisted on running off and getting into trouble, despite the fact it gave Jack mini heart attacks when she did. The Japanese girl didn't care about the fact that she worried him to death and couldn't get over her own jealousy that "everything happened to him", which wasn't true. Jack had missed out on a lot of things because of school and work- like when Miko got caught at that museum or when ever Raf figured something out. In truth, Jack felt like he was the least useful to Team Prime.

That was why he had finally done it, finally pulled a Miko. He had gotten sick of being the one to run after her, so he decided to make _her_ worry about _him_ for once. What he hadn't known was that the Groundbridge had been damaged when Bulkhead and Bumblebee had been lobbing, thus the groundbridge wasn't supposed to be used. The day had been going slow and there was no Decepticon activity. Jack had found it to be the perfect time to start up the groundbridge and "vanish" so that the others would worry for a little bit. How was he to know the groundbridge would malfunction, leaving him on Cybertron in the past?

 _This is what I get for being selfish,_ Jack thought, whishing he had remembered what happened when he did something selfish. The scars on his back were proof that fate punished selfish people. At least no one had asked about his father. That had been his own fault too. Why couldn't he have remembered what happened the last time he was selfish? It had almost gotten Vince hurt.

It was his turn to feel physical pain for his selfishness. Energon burns on top of shock burns, not to mention the different wounds he gathered from the fights. The wounds were scabbed over, but he could tell that if he didn't get medical attention soon, they would no doubt become infected. Jack shuddered as he stayed curled in the corner, ignoring the bizarre looking substance in the dish near the center of the little cell. He knew it was "food", he had eaten it before. He only ate it when he was absolutely starving, otherwise he ignored it. He did that because of how disgusting the "food" was. It tasted bitter and almost burnt, though it didn't make much sense. He ate it when he was starving because his taste buds didn't register the taste, making it easier for him to swallow. He'd thrown up the first time he'd tried it, unable to force it to stay down.

 **"Ipse est fortis. Hoc est a perditio se denegat offline sibi regnum cedere ad circulum,"** a voice said, causing Jack to look up.

Blue grey eyes wearily looked at the pair of Cybertronians sent to "guard" the "pets". Which had spoken, he was uncertain, but he did know that if he watched their mouths, he would find out. They were easily identifiable from others and looked nothing like one another. The one that was a very dark green, kind of like a green found in a dark forest, Jack had chosen to call "Root". Then there was the one that was dark orange color ( _why are they all a dark color...?_ Jack wondered) he chose to call "Dusk".

 **"Non kidding. Cur non odit pugnae,"** Dusk said, responding to what Root had said.

 _Glad that I managed to get Arcee to tell me how to identify if a Cybertronian was a mech or femme if they didn't appear like their gender,_ Jack thought, looking at the two mechs. Like Starscream, Dusk had a more feminine build and slightly feminine vocal print. Jack could tell Dusk was a mech, however, due to the fact that his digits weren't slender and were more blocky, though they were clawed like Megatron or Starscream's digits. On the other hand, Root was clearly a femme. She was burly and had a similar frame type to Bulkhead, however her clearly defined curves and more slender and dainty digits gave it away. It amazed him that it was how slender, pointed, or blocky a Cybertronian's digits were determined if they were a mech or femme.

Jack briefly wondered what they were talking about, but decided not to dwell on it. It didn't mater what his captors were talking about right now. They were his _captors_ , those who were responsible for holding him prisoner and making him fight against others. Even so, he also couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. Jack couldn't deny that he was very curious about the Cybertronian language and culture ever since he met the Autobots.

 **"Est novum unum est rursus ad circulum! Cogitans autem in hic!"**

Jack felt a chill go down his spine at that voice, a voice he recognized all too well. It was the voice of the one that found him, captured him, brought him to this awful place. The mech was tall, optics a shade of crimson that he'd never seen on any Decepticon with armor the color of rust. His clawed digits were in sharpened points that Jack just _knew_ he kept sharpened on purpose, his armor sticking out in points where ever there was joint without hindering movement. Jack feared and hated the mech, who he called "Destructor"- something he deemed rather appropriate.

Jack whimpered and curled in on himself, not wanting to go back to the Ring so soon. It had barely been an hour, maybe three (Jack couldn't really tell, but he wasn't all that hungry yet which meant it couldn't have been _too_ terribly long), since he was last in the Ring. He didn't dare try to doge Dusk's hands as the mech carefully scooped him up out of the small little cell (small to Cybertronians- it was roughly the size of a house to Jack), cradling him with care. Jack didn't understand _why_ Dusk held him carefully, though he figured they didn't want him too banged up before he was inside of the Ring. It probably was also because of Dusk's sharpened digits, something that Root lacked despite her intimidating build.

 **"Sit spes huic imprimere, vel ut terminus sursum offlined, parvus,"** Dusk rumbled, Jack peeking up at the larger mech.

Jack wasn't sure why, but his stomach knotted up at the tone in Dusk's voice. Jack couldn't stop the whimper that left him, earning him a sympathetic look from Dusk, who looked like he didn't like what he just said either. Jack wasn't sure why, but what Dusk had said gave Jack the sense that he could no longer avoid killing his opponents, something that didn't sit well with the young boy. He felt like he was going to be sick, but he also knew that he couldn't get out of this. Not now. Jack searched himself for something that could give him strength for what he was about to do.

 _"Jackson," Optimus had once said, addressing him. "Arcee and Bulkhead submitted reports earlier. I would like to talk to you about your involvement."_

 _Jack had felt his heart speed up at the unrecognizable tone in Optimus' voice, so he gulped silently and nodded. He followed the red and blue leader, jogging to keep up. He had squeaked in surprised when Optimus suddenly picked him up, so that Jack didn't have to jog to keep up with him. Jack had looked up at Optimus in shock, unsure what was going on. They went to the 'Bot sized elevator, which was basically a car lift, and took it to the top of the Mesa. Once up top, Optimus had approached the edge where the pile of rocks that laid in tribute to Cliffjumper were, setting Jack down once there._

 _"Arcee showed poor judgement by allowing you to follow her into the Energon Mine after Miko ran in," Optimus rumbled, "However, it was probably what also saved you. While the caves would have been naturally unstable and dangerous, it kept Megatron from discovering your presence there until a later time. This kept him from collapsing the caves on purpose to seal Miko, Bulkhead, and Arcee inside with no way out."_

 _Jack's brow had furrowed, uncertain of where Optimus was going with this. It was then that he realized where this was going- Optimus was slowly getting to the point where he discovered and ultimately spared Megatron's life. Optimus had fallen silent, as though he understood the boy had already realized the conversation's true topic._

 _"... Did I do the right thing, Optimus?" Jack had finally asked, fear hidden in his voice._

 _It had been a secret fear of Jack- making Optimus upset or disappointed with him. It was something he hadn't realized until he had made the choice to race against Vince. First with Arcee, then with Bumblebee. Optimus' disappointment with him had nearly sent him into a panic attack, memories of a time when his selfishness cost him something precious resurfacing just before he went to face the Autobot leader. He had spent the better part of an hour calming himself down so that he could safely face the Autobots- Optimus in particular -without having a breakdown. He wasn't ready to tell them the truth of his past._

 _Jack could feel the panic rising, despite the fact his pulse hadn't spiked yet. He knew if he was left waiting too long, he would start to panic, to babble, to continuously apologize. That would lead to questions he wasn't ready to answer, to facing a truth he didn't want to face just yet. He forced himself to stay calm, to keep his heart rate from picking up. He thought about his choice, rationalizing that it's what Optimus would have done. Even so..._

 _There was that tiny little voice in the back of his head accusing him of being too cowardly to finish the job, of being selfish when he spared Megatron in that he didn't want the weight of another's life on his shoulders._

 _"You did Jackson."_

 _Optimus' answer made Jack instantly relax, though the boy hadn't even realized he'd been tensing up. Jack looked up at the Autobot, relieved he hadn't made a mistake and disappointed the leader. Jack idly remembered that this was how he had once felt with his own father, a man who expected a lot from Jack._

 _"I was raised to be responsible to my mom, my job, and to my school work," Jack had once told Miko. He just never told her_ who _had taught him that. It hadn't been his mother._

 _"You have impressed me with the maturity you have shown since we first met, Jackson," Optimus continued, "And with how you have grown since the incident two months ago."_

 _Jack felt his cheeks glow and warmth he hadn't felt in a long time spread through his chest. With a start, Jack had realized what the emotion hidden in Optimus' voice was. It was pride and he was_ praising _Jack for his decision. It had been years since someone he admired had shown such things for him, had said such things to him. Yet, even with that, there was something Jack had to know._

 _"Optimus? I... Really appreciate that you approve of my decision but... What if I'm in a similar situation and..."_

 _"Mercy isn't an option for your own survival?" Optimus had finished._

 _Jack had ducked his head, ashamed he had even asked. He didn't want to make Optimus doubt him, but he needed to know what Optimus would approve of._

 _"Jackson, self-preservation is important. However, if you are faced with choice between life and death... Know that it is not bad to chose the option that will keep you alive. There are times where one must chose if they will be the ones to die or if the other will. What you must take into consideration is this: What will your choice accomplish? Who will it affect? Does the other person absolutely_ have _to die in order for you to live?" Optimus said, "Even when one is an Autobot, Jackson, you must also remember that we too have killed. Sometimes it is vital to kill so that you may survive. Avoid violence when you can, but if it is the only way for you to survive then no, it is not wrong to harm another. Killing is not ideal, Jackson, and heavily discouraged. Even so, there are times where killing another is necessary to save yourself. You should not allow yourself to be killed for no reason if you have even a_ small _chance of survival."_

 _Jack could tell that Optimus did not like this topic, but the mech knew Jack needed this talk. Jack didn't fully understand what was being said, but he believed he got the gist of it. Killing Megatron had not been mandatory, thus sparing his life had been the correct thing to do. However, had Jack's survival depended on the warlord's death, Jack believed that Optimus would not have been upset with him for killing the warlord. Death and killing weren't things Optimus encouraged, but even the more pacifist mech understood that, sometimes, it was necessary to survive._

It was hard for Jack to believe that that talk had been six months before. The Decepticons had been eerily silent over the past six months, making Jack think that something was up. Something _big_ , however he wasn't truly complaining. The only real things of note that Jack remembered happening was when that one relic endangered Bulkhead's life by downloading too much information into the big guy's processor, resulting in the discovery of the Synthetic Energon formula. Something that the first few tests of hadn't gone over well. Jack mentally winced as he recalled how Ratchet had acted under it's influence. _It was like he was both drunk and on drugs,_ Jack recalled, shuddering.

Jack blinked when he was suddenly no longer in Dusk's palm. He shrunk even more as he stared up at his nightmares come true- Destructor. The mech stared down at him coldly, barely holding him in a grip that wouldn't hurt him. Jack's pupils had shrunk with his fear, his breath slowly speeding up. He always hated how he quickly began to panic when being held by Destructor, but who wouldn't? The mech always looked like he was about to squish Jack, invoking the boy's fight-or-flight senses, although Jack always stayed frozen and began to panic as he realized he couldn't flee or fight.

Jack yelped as the rust-colored mech dropped him unceremoniously into some sort of box that had what looked like a tunnel on one side. A closer look revealed it was more like one of those tube-slides from a playground or something, made entirely out of metal. Jack knew he had only a few moments, seconds to a Cybertronian, to brace himself. The tunnel always threatened to prove that someone _could_ get metal burn just like one could get rope burn.

 **" _Non_ confundas me, intellege Avikirush?"** Destructor snarled at Jack, causing the boy to squeak and nod rapidly.

Jack had learned that just nodding, even if he didn't understand the words, kept the mech from lashing out at him. The wound on his back was still only just scabbing over from when Destructor had lashed out at him. Jack didn't like where he was, it reminded him too much of something he wanted to forget. But this had to be his punishment for wanting Miko to be the responsible one for once, wasn't it?

Jack cringed as the sound of screeching metal resonated around him, the little box he was in tilting. He began to fall towards the tunnel that he would slide down, into the Ring. He quickly braced himself, but he didn't angle himself correctly in time and groaned when he quickly hit the ground of the Ring, just below a hole in the side of the arena. Pain laced through his body, adding to the other pains he could feel. When he took too long to get to his feet, he felt a zap and he was forced to his feet unwillingly. He whimpered, but pressed forward on his own, knowing better than to push his luck if they were already shocking him.

He stared with weary eyes at his opponent that was twice his size, yet was obviously non-sentient. He wasn't entirely certain, but he was pretty sure it was some sort of dust-collecting 'Bot. It had what he had quickly discovered acted like a vacuum the first time he faced one along with things that resembled dusters. These were easy to disable without fully offlining, but it got him rather hurt in the process. Somehow, he knew his previous tactics wouldn't be tolerated by his captors and the audience this time.

 **"Avikirush!"** voices chanted, calling out what Jack had long since begun to associate as his new "name" in this place.

What "Avikirush" meant or what kind of name it was to a Cybertronian was lost on Jack, but he didn't fully care. He knew that they only chanted that when he was being "announced". He couldn't tell if they were excited or if it was merely rehearsed as a response, but Jack no longer cared. His spine and nerves ached from the constant assault of pain and he knew he was cracking.

There was only one way to finally stop the pain, but Jack didn't want to do it. Jack didn't want to _offline_ another creature, sentient or not. _Living_ or not. He didn't _want_ to, he _couldn't_. It didn't matter that he was defending himself. It really didn't- violence was bad.

 _"If I return and you have so much as_ touched _anything related to violence of_ any _sort, I swear to God that you will regret it boy. Do you understand me?"_

Jack shuddered at the memory as he dodged around the attacking drone, knowing that it was currently programmed to attack _anything_ that moved. Jack was terrified and didn't want to attack back, but a shock from the collar, stronger than the last, reminded him of his conversation with Optimus. Was it vital to his survival to fight back? Yes, it was. Was it vital to his survival to offling his opponent? _Time to find out,_ Jack decided, though the thought made him sick to his stomach.

Jack studied his surroundings as he dodged his opponent, looking for a weapon. There were odd scrap piles around, making it hard to navigate the playing field. After a bit, Jack found what reminded him of a rusted pipe. He snatched it up, cringing at the flakey feeling on the pipe. He finally chose to ignore it and turned to the little cleaner-bot, as he figured that's what it was originally. He winced, a more intense shock running through his body as he took up a defensive stance with the pipe.

 _"_ _Killing is not ideal, Jackson, and heavily discouraged. Even so, there are times where killing another is necessary to save yourself."_

Jack winced at the memory, realizing he was just about to put that piece of information into practice. _If I make it through this and get back home..._ Jack thought bitterly, wincing as more electricity raced through him, _I wear on my life that I will_ never _be selfish again nor will I let myself get put into a position like this again. Father would be so disappointed in me..._

With that depressing thought, Jack launched himself into an offensive, attacking the cleaner-bot first. As he did, he heard the roar of the crowd and felt tears sting his eyes. He hoped he would be able to retain his humanity by the end of this.

 _I'm so sorry, Father, Optimus. I can't be as perfect as you two want me to be._

* * *

 ***claps hands* Alright-y! Chapter One done! I hope it was long enough and in-depth enough for y'all! Also, the name, "Avikirush", was created by taking two already existing names in an already existing language- Indian -and putting them together. IRL, they both are male names meaning "Coward". This name is meant to mean something _extremely_ demeaning in Cybertronian, referring to Jack's lack of aggression. In my story, when translated to English, the name comes out as "Steelfear" and meaning "fear of strength". I _tried_ to stick to Latin for Jack's name(s) (he's not going to _keep_ the name Avikirush), but that proved to be much too difficult to do. As such, I have searched for languages with names that people would be highly unfamiliar with and will be hashing at least _two_ names together to get a completely new name. "Avikirush" was created by hashing the two names "Avikrish" and "Bhiru".**

 **Translations-**

 **Ipse est fortis. Hoc est a perditio se denegat offline sibi regnum cedere ad circulum. - He is strong. It's a waste that he refuses to offline his opponents in the ring.**

 **Non kidding. Cur non odit pugnae - No kidding. I don't understand why he dislikes fighting.**

 **Est novum unum est rursus ad circulum! Cogitans autem in hic! - It's the new one's turn in the ring! Bring him over here!**

 **Sit spes huic imprimere, vel ut terminus sursum offlined, parvus. - Let's hope you impress him, or you may end up being offlined, little one.**

 ** _Non_ confundas me, intellege Avikirush? - Do _not_ disappoint me, understand Avikirush?**


	2. The Ring of Pests

**I'm surprised that I already have a few reviews to this story. However, I am not complaining at all. I was up till 3 am working on the previous chapter, so I'm glad someone thought it was a good one. On a side note, I forgot to mention that this takes place after the episode _"Stronger, Faster"_ but before the episode _"One Shall Fall"_. I have plans involving this AU and the _"Orion Pax"_ trilogy episodes that depend on this story, therefore it must start _before_ the whole Unicron debacle.**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

"English."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dreams_

 **Note: I will be using Latin as a substitute for actual Cybertronian words as heard by Jack, though I will still bold it. I promise to leave translations at the bottom. I will be using "majstro dot com" for the single word translations. It appears to be a bit more reliable than Google Translate, but I am unsure of how reliable it actually is. Just giving you a heads up. Google Translate _will_ be used for phrases though!**

 **Note2: I have decided that, when Jack is speaking to a Cybertronian, I will represent it as squeaks. An example is: "Squeak squik squeaaak!"**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **Secret (Guest): I'm glad that you like the fanfic so far!**_

 _ **Cyber Rogue: *blushes darkly and ducks head* I-I'm glad you liked the chapter so much! It means a lot to me that someone I look up to in the world of writing likes one of my works!**_

 _ **PlatoOfAncientRome34: I'm so happy that you think so!**_

* * *

Jack was panting harshly, trying to regain his breathe. Six. That's how many he had offlined. Six different cleaner-bots. His skin felt like it was on fire, the energon that stained them quite painful. He whimpered, staring blearily at the seventh cleaner-bot he had been put against since entering the Ring. He was getting weaker, he knew, so it was only a matter of time before he was the one offlined. The crowd's cheers, jeers, and whatever else was a roar in his ear, making him certain he would loose his hearing by the end of this. The shocks threatened to kill him too, as stronger shocks were applied if he was taking too long.

Jack was at his limit, close to collapsing. Tears of fear and frustration, of despair and loss, stung his eyes. He was terrified, frustrated with his situation, and just ready to give up and accept death. He wanted to go home, back to his mother where it was safe. Back to the 'Bots where he knew they would never let anything like this happen to him. Back to Optimus, the one being he wouldn't have a problem with calling his father in place of his real one.

Jack dodged to the side of the cleaner-bot, quickly twisting his body and landing a blow with his rusty pipe weapon. He had learned that there was a weak spot on the sides, where Cybertronians had dented the metal on the cleaner-bots. It caused the thing to stall, allowing Jack to jump onto it's back and get the pipe around it's neck. Jack used the pipe as leverage to get into a good position before pushing with his legs and pulling with his arms. The strain hurt, but the sound of delicate wires snapping and soft tubes tearing let him know that he was doing it. As energon began to spurt out, he jumped down and moved to it's side again, jamming the pipe deep into the metal. The metal was softer than the metal that made up the pipe for some reason, but he didn't think about it as the cleaner-bot fell.

Seven. He had offlined seven.

Jack stumbled back, falling onto his butt. It took him a moment to realize it was like he was sitting in a chair, causing him to look up. Destructor was there, looking oddly pleased and that made Jack whimper as he was finally scooped out of the Ring. He curled up in the palm of Destructor's hand, feeling sick at the rocking motion as the mech walked back towards what he assumed to be his cell. Jack was surprised when he was put down, not in his box, but next to what looked like a pool of water. Jack watched with confusion as Destructor seemed to be doing something with it.

After a little while, Jack found himself directly under a hose of some sort. He yelped in surprise when freezing cold water began to rain down onto him, making him jerk away and try to escape the water-like liquid. Destructor wouldn't have it, however, and blocked Jack's escape whenever he tried to flee the freezing water. The water made his wounds ache as well, so it also hurt to be under the water. Destructor stopped after a bit, causing Jack to realize he'd just been washed free of any energon.

That hadn't happened before. He always had had to find a way to get rid of the energon on his own. Why was Destructor giving him a shower now? Jack didn't understand it and yelped as he was suddenly dropped into the pool-like container. He spluttered when he resurfaced, finding that it wasn't all that deep. He could stand comfortably and he looked up at Destructor, who seemed to be inspecting the pool. He nodded after a moment and turned away from Jack, hooking up something else.

Jack decided to not dwell on anything, just like with what happened in the Ring, and make most of the time he hand in the small pool. The water was slightly warmer (he knew it wasn't water, but it was easier to refer to it as water) and his wounds didn't hurt as much. In it, he was able to wash off the dry blood on him and his shirt seemed less stained now. He was surprised by this, but was also very grateful for it.

The water was stained red, brown, and black when at last he was plucked from the waters by Destructor, who then placed him beneath what reminded him of a heat-lamp. It was then that Jack realized this was a _reward_ for finally doing what they had wanted while in the Ring. He suddenly wasn't so sure about all of this, but chose that it was better to not complain about it.

As Jack sat beneath the lamp, he took in the entire room. He realized with a start that it looked kind of like the make-shift medbay from back at Autobot Outpost Omega One. The walls were that achingly familiar light, yet dull gray color with two medical berths. He must have been on what passed for a desk/storage space for medical stuff. He was surprised at just how much it made his heart _hurt_ to look at just how _familiar_ this place seemed, despite the fact that the walls were not made of the same material as back home.

Closing his eyes, Jack swore he could just barely hear Miko's guitar and Raf's laughter. He could here Bulkhead and Bumblebee talking, could hear Ratchet yelling. Could hear Arcee talking. The more he sat there with his eyes closed, just listening, he swore he could hear his mother and Optimus trading friendly flirts as they believed no one would notice. Jack didn't think they were actually attracted to one another, but that they were just doing it because they found it relaxing.

 _Would it really be so bad if Optimus did become my step-father?_

Jack jerked at the thought, his eyes snapping open as he stared at the opposite wall in shock. Had he really just thought that? While, yes, he had felt an odd connection to the Autobot leader since first meeting him (and Megatron too, since seeing him in the cave, for some odd reason), the thought of his mother- who was still very much _married_ for crying out loud -and the large Cybertronian mech falling in love was one that was odd. Yet Jack felt no disgust at the thought has he probably should have, especially since she was married. This disturbed him and he chalked it up to the fact that his father was currently MIA.

Jack took a moment to try and forget what he had just thought, finally doing so when he realized he had been crying. He gingerly touched his cheek to discover what was left of the fast-drying tears, which he hadn't noticed due to the heat lamp thing. The nostalgia of the place he was currently at coupled with the audio hallucination had sent him into tears of home-sickness. It was the first time he had truly noticed it, but he _was_ home-sick. Very much so. It had been hard to tell under the sickness he felt at the fact he had just-

 _No, Jack. Don't go there. Don't go there. Go to a happy place,_ Jack told himself, forcing him to shut down his previous train of thought. He turned his mind towards happier things, such as what he would do when he got back home. He would have a talk with Miko and apologize for being so mean to her. He would also talk to her about what missions are safe for them to accompany the 'bots on and which ones aren't. He would talk to Raf and tell the boy just how much he meant to Jack- Jack saw him as a little brother, after all.

Jack was brought out of his thoughts when he was suddenly picked up, but he didn't squeak this time. Having spent who knows how long being randomly manhandled, he was starting to get used to it. He glanced up at Destructor, trying to see if the mech was upset or not. He decided that Destructor didn't look like anything in particular, he turned his attention to trying to figure out where they were going. His question of "where" was soon answered when he spotted a familiar clear box that had become his "home" over the past however long he'd been there.

How long _had_ he been there? It couldn't have been more than a few days, right? Jack hadn't been able to see the sky since he was captured, therefore he couldn't be certain of how long had passed. His phone had been fried when he went through the groundbridge and it malfunctioned, thus he had no way to keep track of time. When he was placed in his box, Jack quickly drew back to a random corner. He found comfort in the corners, as it was easy to pretend he was either pressed into Miko and Raf or in the embrace of his mother.

His mother.

Tears came to his eyes at the thought of June Darby as he realized she must be so worried about him- just another consequence of his actions. Jack truly regretted ever going through the groundbridge on his own with no destination in mind. He shouldn't have wanted to make the others worry about him, shouldn't have tried to make Miko the "responsible" one for once. Jack curled up in the corner, burying his head in his arms, trying to hold back the tears. He hated this, what he had wrought upon himself.

All because he had been so selfish.

* * *

Soundwave was trying to focus on what his friends were saying, he really was. It was hard, though, as he had gone to investigate the rumors of a "Pet Gladiator Ring" called _The Ring of Pests_. What he had witnessed there had shaken him down to his very core when he discovered that an odd-looking _sparkling_ had been forced to fight for it's life. The poor thing was clearly an early-spark, framed prematurely. That usually meant that it's Carrier had been offlining, forcing the sparkling to be framed early to save it's life. Why it's Protoform was that odd peachy coloring or why it was leaking red from it's wounds was unclear, but Soundwave was _certain_ it had been sparkling.

 **"Soundwave!"**

The mech jerked when his name was suddenly shouted, causing him to turn his attention to his comrades. Orion Pax, a mainly red mech with some blue coloring, was looking at him with concern while Megatronus, a silver-gray mech, was looking at him with annoyance. Soundwave gave them a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his helm.

 **"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"** he asked.

 **"Soundwave, honestly!"** Megatronus scolded. **"You shouldn't let yourself be distracted! What if we'd been discussing strategies on how to get the Mine Slaves more energon? What if an assassin had snuck in?!"**

Soundwave ducked his helm, feeling like a fool. He wasn't just another consultant- he was their spy and bodyguard. He knew he shouldn't have let his guard down, but he couldn't get the poof little sparkling from _The Ring of Pests_ out of his helm. The poor thing was being forced to _fight_ just because it looked like some organic pet rather than a sparkling. It was a premature sparkling- of course it was going to look odd. Premature sparklings always had deformities and glitches. That didn't change the fact it was a _sparkling_.

 **"Soundwave, what on Cybertron has you so distracted?"** Orion asked, ignoring Megatronus' attempts at scolding the mech.

Soundwave was, once again, grateful for the archivist's perceptiveness. As naïve and soft-sparked as he was, Orion wasn't a oblivious as most attempted to make him seen. However, Soundwave wasn't sure how to broach the subject about _The Ring of Pests_ , especially after what he had seen while there.

 **"Remember those rumors and reports about pets and sparklings that resembled mechanimals being stolen and spirited away to some illegal fight ring? _The Ring of Pests_ , they called it?"** Soundwave asked softly, knowing that Orion hated talking about those rumors and reports.

He didn't blame the mech for wanting to act like such a horrible thing didn't exist. However, it was the rumors that drove Soundwave to see if it _was_ true, as his only sparklings _were_ ones with mechanimal forms. He couldn't bare the thought of Ravage, who had only _just_ turned 500 vorns and entered his second sparkling frame, or Lazerbeak, who had just turned 250 vorns, being taken away to such a horrific place. It was why he had to check it out, in case it _was_ real.

 **"What about it?"** Megatronus asked sharply, glancing at Orion.

Orion had stiffened, his optics wide and his posture completely tense. Orion was trying to ignore all the unwanted thoughts that whispered of the horrors said to take place in _The Ring of Pests_. The mech didn't want to think such a place was real, but Soundwave's tone and posture was suggesting he had found it.

 **"It... It's not just _real_ ," **Soundwave said after a few moments, voice barely a whisper. **"But they... There was a sparkling... It wasn't one of those that had a mechanimal form... It was deformed and clearly had some glitches but... It was a _sparkling_... It might've been _maybe_ an orn or three, but it was so _clearly_ a premature one..."**

Soundwave watched the horror seep into his friends' optics. The only fate _worse_ for a premature sparkling than being mistaken for a pet and being whisked off to such a place would be if the Council caught wind of the poor thing. The Council would simply offline the poor thing for being a "weak link" _or_ use it for... Experiments. Just imagining such things happening to a sparkling that was just barely framed was horrific enough, but to _witness_ a sparkling being forced to fight for it's spark? Not only that, but being the _only one_ who realized that it _was_ a sparkling and not a pet?

 **"What... What should we do?"** Orion asked, immediately turning towards the one he looked up to like an older brother. **"Megatronus, we _cannot_ leave a _sparkling_ in such conditions! Especially one so young!"**

They all knew that there was no way they could rescue _all_ the sparklings there, but they also knew that there was no way any of the others were so young. The thought of leaving a sparkling that was less than a vorn old in the servos of those that would abuse it was enough to make them pitch in to rescue the poor thing.

 **"Soundwave, did you get any information on how long the sparkling has been there?"** Megatronus asked. **"What about what might have happened to it creators? We cannot go in blind. We need any and all information on _The Ring of Pests_ and this sparkling to successfully pull this off. That mean how long the sparkling has been there, how old it is, how well-guarded the area where the sparkling is being kept is, how well-guarded the entire place is, areas that can be used to sneak in, and an estimate of how long we have the before the sparkling is extinguished due to maltreatment."**

 **"I gathered what I could about the sparkling while I was there. It's been there for four solarcycles, tomorrow will be it's fifth there. The sparkling doesn't seem as helpless as some others would be and appears to be rather smart despite everything. I estimate it _could_ last _at least_ until the end of this megacycle, provided it's getting enough nourishment. No one was certain on weather it's a mech or a femme, but most believe the sparkling to be a mechling,"** Soundwave reported. **"Shall I go back tomorrow and begin to map out the place?"**

Megatronus nodded, his expression grave. Though, there was a spark of impressment there at the resilience of a sparkling that could be no more than a few orns old. Perhaps it was older, but either it's glitches or deformities stunted it's growth? It was possible- after all, that's what happened with minicons, usually, and was why there were very few minicons.

 **"Megatronus? What shall we do to hide the sparkling's existence from the Council?"** Orion asked anxiously, clearly worried about what would happen should the Council discover the sparkling.

 **"Don't you have a medic friend- Ratchet, wasn't it? -who did "under the table" jobs?"** Megatronus asked, turning to his friend. **"The sparkling will need a medic- Ratchet would be the perfect candidate. As for keeping the sparkling hidden, that shouldn't be too hard. We just don't talk about the sparkling over the comms in a way that is obvious, we make sure only those we are _certain_ are trustworthy know about the sparkling, and we keep the sparkling hidden when going out in public. We all have sparkling chambers, so that last be shouldn't be too hard."**

Soundwave and Orion nodded, both looking relieved that they had a plan to rescue the poor sparkling.

 **"Who will take care of the sparkling, assuming it has no creators?"** Soundwave asked.

 **"We three could all share responsibility for the sparkling,"** Orion suggested, looking elated at the thought. **"You know, switch around who the sparkling stays with each solarcycle. Of course, when it comes to when we all go into "work", the sparkling would be better off staying with me since you both are gladiators and I'm a data clerk."**

 **"That's a good idea,"** Soundwave agreed. **"Though I'm a bit curious as to which of us the sparkling would get attached to the most. Sparklings, when having multiple caretakers, usually tend to show favoritism."**

 **"All things considered,"** Megatronus said dryly, **"It would be Orion. You and I would probably remind the poor thing of _The Ring of Pests_ too much."**

That returned the mood, which had been lightening at the thought of the three being the ones to raise the little tyke, went somber once more. Dark thoughts passed through each of them, even Orion, at the thought of the sparkling being in such a horrific place.

 **"We'll start the mission of rescuing the sparkling tomorrow,"** Megatronus said after a while, glancing out at the darkening sky. **"It's much too late tonight. We'll all need to be alert. While Soundwave goes in to learn information, Orion and I will go about things as normal so as not to draw suspicion. Once we have enough information, we should be able to actually rescue the sparkling in two solarcycles. Three at the most."**

Orion and Soundwave nodded, both rising from their seats. Soundwave was grateful they had chosen to meet in Megatronus' apartments that solarcycle, as it kept anyone from discovering what they were up to. Especially on this solarcycle. As they were about to leave, Megatronus insisted it was much too dark for them to go back home for the lunarcycle. Especially since Orion had to travel all the way back to Iacon. Thus, Soundwave found himself sleeping on the spare berth in the work room, preferring to allow Orion to take the guest chambers.

* * *

 **Alright! Chapter two is done! Alright, just a few notes. I chose "work room" instead of "living room" because I don't think they really have such a thing. Yes, they probably have something akin to a TV in there, but I figured it's more of a room for doing things on a kiosk or something. In case anyone can't tell, this is _before_ Soundwave took a vow of silence. This will be so AU that Jack impacts things so much more than one would realize. Jack doesn't think his presence will have much of an impact, but it will have a _huge_ impact. Also, at the time of this, Ravage is the equivalent of a five year old while Lazerbeak is two and half. Rumble and Frenzy haven't yet been created and won't be for some time.**

 **Vorn = Year**

 **Orn = Month**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Have a good rest of your day/night/morning/evening/etc.!**


	3. Information

**Hey everyone! Welcome to chapter three of _Unconventional Way to Heal_! So, I have a few things to announce. First is the possibility of the title and summary being changed as the story progresses further. You see, there is a possibility that this story will change in a way that will require the title and summary to be changed. While I don't think I'll need to change the summary, I can already see that, depending on how this story pans out, I might need to change the title at least. I figured I'd give you an early warning. The second thing is that now that I have started school once more, my updates will be severely less frequent than they've been over the summer. While I wish this wasn't so, it's very true. Especially since I'm under threat of loosing my electronics if I so much as slip below either a C+ or a B-, I can't remember which exactly. Anyways, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

"English."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dreams_

 **::Comm. being spoken through in Cybertronian::**

 **Cybertronian Terms (Meaning) - Earth Time Equivalent**

 **Vorn (Cybertronian Year) - 83 Earth Years**

 **Orn (Cybertronian Month) ~ 7 Earth Years**

 **Megacycle (Cybertronian Week) ~ 2 Earth Years**

 **Solarcycle (Cybertronian Day) ~ 3 Earth Months**

 **Note: I will be using Latin as a substitute for actual Cybertronian words as heard by Jack, though I will still bold it. I promise to leave translations at the bottom. I will be using "majstro dot com" for the single word translations. It appears to be a bit more reliable than Google Translate, but I am unsure of how reliable it actually is. Just giving you a heads up. Google Translate _will_ be used for phrases though!**

 **Note2: I have decided that, when Jack is speaking to a Cybertronian, I will represent it as squeaks. An example is: "Squeak squik squeaaak!"**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **wolf girl811: I hadn't thought about it taking a few chapters. That's probably a good idea, however.**_

 _ **Secret: Hahaha! You're kinda funny. I like your enthusiasm! Though, I don't know how well I'll be able to write fluff...**_

 _ **Cyber Rogue: People tend to have it as just Megatron and Optimus being old friends, but with how often Soundwave would've been around, it only made sense to make him a good friend of Orion's too.**_

 _ **Wonderfull Dreams: I'm glad you like the story thus far! I like your penname!**_

* * *

It was agonizing for Soundwave to do things slowly. He knew that the rescue would most-likely happen during the next solar cycle or the one after, but it was still so hard for him to do things the "proper" way. Especially with such a tiny, vulnerable, and young sparkling's life on the proverbial line, especially given it couldn't be any older than half a vorn. Being both the sire and carrier, as he had no sparkmate, to a pair of sparklings just barely in their first sparkling-frames, this was much worse for him. He knew the only one who was feeling as close to worried as he was would be Orion- the mech had natural carrier instincts that made it a shock that Orion hadn't created his own cold-frame or hatchling sparkling yet. The only one he was worried would not understand the importance of this would be Megatronus- the mech's spark was in the right place, but he had no creator protocols online if he had them at all. Soundwave swore he'd rectify this when they had the medic known as Ratchet check over the little bitlet they were pit-bent on rescuing.

Soundwave was interested in how everyone was keeping most information about the sparkling under wraps. So far there was only speculation that the sparkling was under half a vorn, only speculation that it was a cold-frame. In fact, everywhere he turned, he found no one with the theory the sparkling actually had creators somewhere, looking for it. _Him_ , Soundwave quickly corrected, as he had managed to get that much from a guard that didn't mind talking about vague things involving the sparkling. From what he had gotten out that wasn't too vague was that the sparkling was either extremely deformed with a soft mesh-frame _or_ it was organic for some unfathomable reason, as everyone seemed to agree that it looked like a sparkling. Most still called _him_ an "it" because they didn't want to think it was an _actual_ honest to Primus two-orn-old sparkling. Soundwave didn't blame them.

 _Mech Sparkling Data - The Ring of Pests Operation_

 _Age: Between Two Orns and Half of a Vorn_

 _Description: Nearly microscopic black wires adorn helm, appears to be some kind of ultra soft helmet of sorts. Is colored in a somewhat soft pinkish-tan coloring making up his frame, appears to be either an organic frame (Perhaps a techno-organic and reason for possible abandonment?) or extremely soft mesh-frame. Frame swells and becomes discolored when burned or otherwise damaged, similar to when one gets Rust Breach. This is further evidence supporting the Techno-Organic possibility. The mechling wears what appears to be a form of extremely-thin thermal mesh over his frame, it does not appear to be armor. It has many tears in it that prove it is no more than an ultra-thin thermal mesh of sorts, which makes some sense as the sparkling is much too young to generate enough warmth for himself._

 _Creators: Unknown. Sparkling is theorized to have been abandoned due to weak nature and even the possibility of the sparkling being a Techno-Organic. This suggests the creator(s) had an organic pet that the sparkling came into contact with or the creator was a pretender who was involved with one of the sentient organic species Cybertron trades with._

 _Observations: Sparkling is much more intelligent than a two-orn-old should be- suggests making of a genius or the sparkling is a severely malnourished half-vorn-old. Sparkling cannot be older or his size would surely offline him._

Soundwave felt a frown tugging at his lipplates as reread the information on the sparkling he had typed on his datapad to hand over to Orion so that the younger mech could look into seeing where the sparkling came from. There were only three solid facts that they had, which was the approximate age of the sparkling, the appearance of the sparkling, and that the sparkling was a mech. Another piece of information filtered through his processor, but he didn't want to type it down. He knew it would set Orion _and_ Megatronus off- Megatronus because it was clearly the sparkling was far from a "coward", as the Ring's designation for him suggested, to have survived for roughly three-four solarcycles in the horrific place. _When we finally get the council to listen,_ Soundwave thought, _A way to ensure these illegal "Pet Fighting Rings" are not just forbidden, but that the fact they are forbidden is enforced._ With a sigh, Soundwave knew he had to add the sparkling's "designation".

 _Designation as given by the Ring: **Avikirush**_

Soundwave glared at the name, his lilac optics flashing in annoyance at the name. He knew at least _three_ designations that would be better suited for the sparkling, such as something like "Conchobhar". He knew just by watching the sparklings that the mechling was one who deserved a designation that meant "strength of spark". Soundwave paused and pondered the name before nodding to himself. Whenever he was the one caring for the sparkling once they rescued him, Soundwave would call the sparkling "Conchobhar". He then felt a smile twitch on his faceplates as he quickly opened a comm. with his two best friends.

 **::Soundwave to Megatronus, Orion Pax::Soundwave**

 **::What is it Sound'?::Orion Pax**

 **::Orion, _how_ many times have I told you not to call him that? It's Sound _wave_!::Megatronus**

 **::He doesn't mind, 'Tronus::Orion Pax**

 **:: _Anyways_ , you two, I have a question. If you could designate a tiny mechling that was very brave anything, what would you designate him?::Soundwave**

 **::Athelonsokar::Orion Pax**

 **::"One Who Nobly Protects"? _Why_ am I not surprised?::Megatronus**

 **::Well, if the mechling is brave, wouldn't he want to protect others? Protecting others and being brave is very noble::Orion Pax**

 **::I was thinking "Conchobhar"::Soundwave**

 **::"Strength of Spark"? That's a good one! What about you, Megatronus?::Orion Pax**

 **::Well... I suppose a good designation would be "Eskiminzinyang". It means "Warrior With Hidden Fears" or "Leader of no Fear"::Megatronus**

 **::Why am I not surprised?::Orion Pax**

 **::What? One so brave would clearly be material for a warrior or leader! Perhaps both!::**

 **::Like You?::Soundwave, Orion Pax**

 **::Of course::Megatronus**

 **::Typical::Orion Pax, Soundwave**

 **::You expected something else::Megatronus**

 **::Not at all:: Soundwave**

 **::Why would we want you any other way?::Orion Pax**

 **::Anyways, Orion, I'm delivering the datapad that you wanted::Soundwave**

 **::Wonderful! I'll be waiting on you!::Orion**

Soundwave couldn't help his chuckle at Orion's enthusiasm and was, once more, glad to have met the normally shy archivist. Most would be shocked to learn just how down right _bubbly_ Orion could be when talking to trusted friends. He felt a pang of frustration at how Orion was raised that kept the mech from publicly showing his enthusiasm, even when around close friends. Alpha Trion was the main culprit for this, something Megatronus and Soundwave had discovered rather quickly. As supportive as Alpha Trion was for their movement, they also could see how the mech was suppressing Orion's true self. However, Orion absolutely _adored_ the ancient mech, preventing the two from spiriting Orion away to become an archivist in Kaon, which was desperately in need of things like data-clerks. Somewhere _close_ , where the two mech could _protect_ Orion from oppression and horrors, despite what they themselves went through.

Shaking his helm, Soundwave started off towards Iacon to deliver the datapad to his friend. He had begun to learn all he could about the building in which _The Ring of Pests_ was, but his findings were rather discouraging. Most hidden entrances were sealed up rather tightly, the other ones guarded at all times. He hoped they wouldn't have to cause a ruckus to get to the poor little mechling being held captive there, but that seemed to be the best option. There were nearly twenty thugs hired to guard the place- possibly more. It didn't help that the one running the place was a very feared mech in all of Kaon- a Punisher known simply as Executioner, a mech who was known for beating disobedient, or even just helm-strong slaves, to near offline. He was a torturer, plain and simple.

Megatronus would not be pleased by this information, as Megatronus had once slaved under the mech before he was shipped off to the _Pits of Kaon_ gladiatorial arena. While the two had never _officially_ crossed paths, the horror stories were enough to make Megatronus hate the mech. Soundwave knew this because he had heard Megatronus rant about it more than once.

Soundwave just hoped it wouldn't come to a confrontation between the two in order to obtain little Conchobhar, not wishing to spill energon over this. He also didn't want to risk the mechling witnessing it and becoming even more traumatized than he probably already was.

 _Primus, please smile upon us when it comes to rescuing this poor little creation of yours._

* * *

His stomach snarled at him, churning in hunger for some form of sustenance. However, for once, there was _nothing_ to eat. He knew why- he had messed up. He hadn't been able to help it at the time, however. They had pit him against something that he had once talked to Arcee about. He knew that they were called mechanimals and that Arachnid was an Arachnacon- a type of Cybertronian that was half-Insecticon. Arachnacons had their spider-modes based off of glitchspiders, something Arcee had shown him a holopicture of. That had been his new opponent in the Ring, a fear of his. Organic, _Earth_ spiders he could handle. Glitchspiders that were half his size in height? Jack was terrified of them, especially since all he had gotten stuck in a flashback involving Arachnid.

Jack shuddered in his corner as he tried to block out the memories of the spider-con, fixing on memories of Arcee. Good ones, like the rides they took. The closest Jack ever came to _flying_. Jack had loved it, the feel of the wind pressing against him, the sight of the geography flying by him in a blur. During those times, Jack could forget responsibility, could forget Miko's infuriating shenanigans, could forget that no one saw him as a child, could forget a man known as Davidson Darby. During those times, Jack could forget smoldering, hateful green eyes framed by ash colored hair. He could forget a scowl that made him shiver in fear. Jack realized too late to stop the memories what he was doing.

 _Davidson Darby, known simply as "Dave" to June and his army buddies, wasn't an abusive man. Even so, he was intimidating at 6'8" tall, lean and muscular from eight years of serving in the army. He had joined out of High School, like his family had expected of him. Like Davidson expected of Jack._

 _"You pathetic boy! What did I tell you?! I wanted you sheets so tight I could bounce a quarter on them without disturbing a thing!" Dave scolded Jack, his voice slightly raised._

 _Jack, six at the time, just stared at his feet, tears hidden by his bowed head as he took his father's verbal lashing. This had been the umpteenth time he had failed to make his bed the way his father demanded of him, the way a good future soldier was meant to do it. The boy knew better than to give away his emotions to his father by now. While his father wasn't abusive, the man wasn't lenient on many things. It was half an hour before Dave calmed down and took in his son's appearance. The man sighed._

 _"You know I love you, don't you Jack?"_

 _There it was- the soft voice that said his father wasn't mad anymore. That Jack was forgiven for not doing it right. The six-year-old instinctively reached out, his father immediately picking him up._

 _"My smart little boy," Dave murmured, "I know you'll do better next time. This time was better than before. I'm sorry that Daddy has too short a temper. You know it's for the best, right?"_

 _"Yes, Daddy," Jack replied immediately, mechanically._

 _He knew his Daddy loved him, that it was for his own good._

 _"When you join the army, what will you be?"_

 _"A nurse or a doctor, like Mommy," Jack instantly replied. "I will never pick up an object with the intent to hurt another one. Only to help and heal them."_

 _"Good boy."_

Jack shuddered at the memory, now knowing what his father had been doing. Manipulating him, teaching him through verbal and mental abuse. Twisting Jack to become how Davidson Darby wanted him to be. Even so, he still longed to make his father proud, to prove that he could be the perfect son that the green eyed man wanted. A feeling he now felt when it came to Optimus Prime as well. _How pathetic am I?_ Jack wondered idly, curling up more as his stomach churned with hunger.

No food as punishment for freezing up when faced with one of his worst fears. Not to mention it had been more alive, more able to hurt him, more able to feel pain than a cleaner-bot. Jack shuddered, freezing inside of his little cell-box. Jack hoped that he could get away from Destructor eventually, knowing that he wouldn't survive for much longer if he didn't. _Maybe if I prove I'm sentient?_ Jack thought, raising his head.

 **"A... Avk... Avkirsh,"** he croaked out, the word scratching and grating on his throat as he attempted to repeat the sounds he constantly heard when his name was said.

It hurt to talk like that, but then he hadn't had water to drink in a while either. Both food and drink had been taken away from him, rendering him incapable of repeating the sounds without straining his voice. He knew he had butchered the word, but he had barely gotten it out anyways. As Jack dissolved into a coughing fit, he realized that no one was guarding him for some reason. He couldn't figure out why, but he felt much too weak to question it.

It was then that Jack realized he had gone too long without eating. His body wasn't used to a lack of food, besides the human body couldn't survive without staying hydrated. He was going to get weaker and weaker until he died. He thought he'd die of shocks or the Ring, not lack of sustenance. His body shook as he couldn't hold it anymore.

He wanted to go home, to see his mother, to see the 'Bots, to see Fowler, to see Miko and Raf. He would even be grateful to see _Megatron_ if it meant that he was _home_.

Tears welled in Jack's eyes as he finally broke down and began to cry, something he hadn't done where someone could see him since he was five. Something he hadn't done even in private since he was eleven when they received word that his father had been MIA for three months. Jack cried, his cries slowly growing in volume as at last all of Jack's frustration, sorrows, and mourning came out. A dam had burst and he wouldn't be able to stop.

He wasn't an adult, he wasn't perfect. He wasn't what Optimus wanted, what his _father_ wanted. He mourned that he couldn't be perfect for them, that he was still a child. He mourned the childhood he never got, mourned how he had treated Miko, who was acting more like her age. He cried for the fact he was lost, alone, and somewhere strange. He cried, finally feeling the full burn of each and ever cut, burn, and bruise. He cried and cried, unable to keep his sobs at bay. Loneliness joined sorrow and married pain, mourning for what he could've been and he couldn't be.

"Please!" Jack desperately cried out, voice cracking as his voice strained. "Please, I'll be good! I'll be good, I promise! Daddy, please! Daddy! Mommy! Please! I wanna go home! Please take me home! Oppy! Cee-Cee! Bulky! Bee-Bee! Please! Someone! I wanna go h-home! I promise I'll be a good boy! Mommy! Daddy! DADDY, PLEASE!"

His voice dissolved, cracking and breaking, his tone becoming that of a small child's as he desperately cried for someone to save him. To take him home, to protect him. Jackson Darby was breaking, crying out for help.

 _But nobody came..._

* * *

 **... I... I just about cried as I wrote the last bit... *sniff* I broke my own heart writing it... A note... Jack's Cybertronian names... When spoke in their "true Cybertronian form" will _always_ be bolded when spoken/written... Anyways... I'm... *goes to cry for forgiveness for hurting Jack in a corner***

 **Names**

 **Conchobhar - Not a fusion of names; Irish, means "strong willed; wise."**

 **Eskiminzinyang - Fusion of "Eskiminzin" and "Fenyang"; "Eskiminzin" is Apache, means "Leader of the Aravaipa Apaches"; "Fenyang" is Botswana (I cannot believe that that is an actual work, let alone a country and language! Does Miko know?! "I'm living in Botswana here and I will not allow you or anyone to shatter it!"), means "warrior; conqueror."**

 **Athelonsokar - Fusion of "Aethelweard", "Afonso", and "Abubakar"; "Aethelweard" is English (as in England), means "Noble Protector"; "Afonso" is Portugal, means "Noble One"; "Abubakar" is Egyptian, means "Noble".**

 **Orion, Megatronus, and Soundwave will each call Jack their preferred designation. The reason behind this is that they (and sub-sequentially I) won't agree on which of the names to call him. While it would probably be confusing for Jack at first, thought process is this: Jack is smart. He could figure out that "Avikirush" was the name "Destructor"/"Executioner" (an OC, by the way!) gave him rather quickly- much quicker than one normally would have. Jack may not be as smart as Raf, but this would be something he could figure out quickly. Thus, it shouldn't be too hard for him to figure out that, despite having different names for him, they're all talking to or about him.**


	4. Mecharachniphobia

**Wow. Chapter _four_ already?! I'm surprised at how I've been able to keep up with this story! *smiles a bit***

 **I hate you so much right now!**

 **You don't mean that, Jackrabbit. We both know that. _Anyways_ , I'm so glad you all like the story so much! It really means a lot to me that you do! Anyways, I recently read the beginnings of a story that had Jack and Miko as secretly twins. Now isn't _that_ an interesting idea?**

 **... *narrows eyes* Arivania Satella Moons, you _better_ not be thinking of writing another story right now! You still have _PutPotP_ AND _The Twin_ to work on next to this** **one!**

 ***gasps* Jackrabbit, you wound me! Why would I _ever_ think of tackling _four_ stories at once?!**

 **I see that rough draft! Hand it over! Not even a pencil-and-paper version until you've at least finished one of these three stories!**

 **But-**

 **Hand it over!**

 ***pouts* _Fine._**

 ***rolls eyes* _Anyways_ , Aria, who forgot to do this, doesn't own Transformers: Prime, me, or any other characters. They- and I -belong to _Hasbro_. She does, however, own the pile of scrap known as Destructor/Executioner.**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

"English."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dreams_

 **::Comm. being spoken through in Cybertronian::**

 **Cybertronian Terms (Meaning) - Earth Time Equivalent**

 **Vorn (Cybertronian Year) - 83 Earth Years**

 **Orn (Cybertronian Month) ~ 7 Earth Years**

 **Megacycle (Cybertronian Week) ~ 2 Earth Years**

 **Solarcycle (Cybertronian Day) ~ 3 Earth Months**

 **Note: I will be using Latin as a substitute for actual Cybertronian words as heard by Jack, though I will still bold it. I promise to leave translations at the bottom. I will be using "majstro dot com" for the single word translations. It appears to be a bit more reliable than Google Translate, but I am unsure of how reliable it actually is. Just giving you a heads up. Google Translate _will_ be used for phrases though!**

 **Note2: I have decided that, when Jack is speaking to a Cybertronian, I will represent it as squeaks. An example is: "Squeak squik squeaaak!"**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **Cyber Rogue: Indeed. Sadly, you'll have to see if this is the chapter that they rescue him. There's a possibility it isn't the one.**_

 _ **Dimensional Phaser: Oh, yes! Please help me! Jack! How did you-?! Get back in the story! I don't want to! Jackson Darby! Get back in the story! I need you so I can finish it! ... Fine!**_

 _ **PlatoOfAncientRome34: I'm so glad you're enjoying it! (I know and I am sooo sorry!)**_

 _ **Secret (Guest): He will, he will. Eventually... I hate you! Get back in the story, Jackson! Or I'll tell June about the Rock Bottom incident! Fine!**_

 _ **Hufflepuffkat: I love your Penname. I'm a Ravenclaw myself. Anyways, here's the next chapter for you! And Jack will be fine... Physically, anyways.**_

* * *

Jack blinked as he woke up, his vision blurry as he slowly became aware once more. His face stung, his tears having aggravated an open cut on his cheek. His head hurt, his nose was stuffed, and his wounds ached something awful. On top of that, he was stiff from falling asleep in the position that he had, his legs asleep. He couldn't discern what had woken him up, his foggy mind trying to come up with an answer.

Jack had stopped freaking out when he woke up in his cell a while ago, now expecting to wake in the stupid clear box. He noticed that his "food" and "water" had been returned, his churning stomach forcing him to move his numb legs. It felt weird and he stumbled a bit, having trouble staying upright when he couldn't feel his legs. He sank down next to his "doggy bowl", as he had taken to calling it. He was, as usual, forced to use his hands to eat the stuff. It had the consistency of yogert, but tasted like spoilt milk. He ate it, though, his gag reflex not kicking in due to his starvation. For once, Jack didn't stop until he was full. He normally didn't eat until he was full, but he had needed it this time. He then drank the liquid that looked like water, but tasted like how he once overheard Vince describing beer. It was horrible, but his gag reflex didn't kick in once again. He was both used to drinking the liquid and too thirsty to care what it tasted like.

Jack looked up when he heard something, trying to figure out what he had heard. He was surprised that Root and Dusk were not at their posts, guarding him and the other "pets". In their stead was a femme (her curved figure and slim fingers gave her away almost immediately) who had armor that was bubblegum pink in color, reminding Jack of Arcee's accents. Her "skin" (Jack was pretty sure that Ratchet called the metal skin of a Protoform "hardened mesh") was white-silver in color and her optics were a color he had never seen a Cybertronian have before. They were a deep forest green in color, something that mesmerized Jack. He thought Ratchet had said that Cybertronians only had four colors for their optics, which was gold, purple, red, and blue. _Maybe it's some kind of glitch in her optics,_ Jack thought, remembering Ratchet explaining that "glitches" in something were essentially like having a mutation in a human, like being colorblind or being an albino.

The femme was shifting around, as though she was uncomfortable, the sound Jack had heard being the clicking of hauntingly familiar appendages on her back. There were six, thin leg-like appendages that were similar in structure to a spider's. They were the same bubblegum pink as the femme's armor with a rose red trim, again like her armor. He was unable to stop staring at them, memories of a certain Arachnacon filling his mind as he stared at them, his body beginning to tremble. This wasn't Arachnid (how could she be with the guilt in her optics, but why was she feeling guilt?), but his discovery and invention of mecharachniphobia (the fear of mechanical spiders) forced him to be afraid of all spider-like mechanical creatures, sentient or not.

He saw her look at him fully, confusion in her optics as he pressed himself against the back of his little cell. The femme glanced around, as if checking to ensure there was no one else in the vicinity, before slowly approaching him. For once, Jack wished his little cell had a roof or something on it so that people couldn't just reach into it anytime they wanted. He tried to shrink, to become even smaller than he already once as she carefully reached inside and picked him up. He fully expected something like pain or for her to just look him over curiously. What he didn't expect was for him to suddenly be on his back, cradled in her arms like he was a sparkling. He stared up at her with wide eyes, her optics looking at him kindly as she made a soft click-whirr-chirp noise that was oddly soothing. It kind of sounded like she was cooing at him, the way he had seen mothers do to infants when they were upset or being adorable, just in a more mechanical way.

 **"Quid suus 'iniuriam, candenti?"** she said, the soft click-whirr-chirp in her voice unmistakably a coo now.

 _Candenti_ she had called him, making his eyes widen in understanding suddenly. The femme thought he was a sparkling, a severely glitched sparkling, but a sparkling nonetheless. He knew that "candenti" meant sparkling because Ratchet had used the term when referring to the kids when they were "causing trouble" or when Bumblebee was acting childish, prompting the kids to ask what it meant. Yet, if she thought he was a sparkling, then why wasn't she _helping_ him? Why wasn't she trying to get him out of here. _If she was really feeling guilty,_ Jack thought bitterly, _She'd be trying to save me._

Jack blinked, startled at his own thoughts. What was _wrong_ with him? First he breaks down, crying out like a terrified spar- _toddler, Jack, you're human, not Cybertronian_ -toddler and begging for his parents. Now he was thinking bitter thoughts, thoughts he shouldn't be having. Jack frowned slightly, jumping when he suddenly finds his word moving in a slow rocking motion. He looks back up at the Arachnacon femme, seeing her soft, loving expression. She was doing the Cybertronian version of a coo again, clicking non-sense that reminded him of humming, and rocking him like a baby.

She really, truly thought that he was a terrified sparkling that needed to be comforted. _Then why isn't she helping me? Is something keeping her from helping me? Is it Destructor?_ It wasn't all that surprising if it _was_ Destructor that was keeping this nice femme from helping him. Despite his fear of her at first, her personality and demeanor had already calmed him from that. She wasn't Arachnid and he could tell it so easily that he wasn't afraid of her. He would probably need her to do this multiple times before the sight of her didn't freak him out, but he was okay right now. His mind was at ease for now. _It's too bad the groundbridge-malfunction fried my phone. I'd love a picture of her to remind myself that not_ all _Arachnacons and arachnid-looking creatures are sadistic, evil, and terrifying beings._

Jack slowly found himself relaxing in her hold, feeling himself being shifted as she adjusted her hold on him. He suddenly heard something very faintly, something he'd only heard once. It had been after his first nightmare involving Airachnid, when he went to Arcee to talk about it. She had surprised him by picking him up and cradling him in a way that pressed his head over where her spark was. Sparks had a beat that was similar to a heart, but it was soft and sounded more like how a pulse felt. It was a soothing rhythm he remembered his heart slowing down to match, causing him to feel sleepy. It wasn't unlike how his mother had acted after he had a nightmare about being abandoned as a spa- child. His father had threatened to abandon him on multiple occasions if he ever became one of those "horrible men that used violence and threats to get what they wanted."

Jack wasn't sure if it was mental-emotional abuse that his father had been committing or the other spectrum where he was just being overly strict about making him fearful of picking up weapons. He just knew that, until he met the Autobots, Jack had assumed that so much as thinking about hurting someone else in anyway, even if it was a prank, made him a bad person. The Autobots had slowly taught Jack that he was wrong, that it was okay to defend one's self and that pranks were a healthy way of amusing people and making them smile. That it was okay to be a child, that he wasn't a soldier even when caught in a war. While it didn't heal the wounds of the past, it did sooth them like a painkiller soothed a broken bone. It didn't take the pain away, but it did hide it. Hinder it, smother it.

The _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark soothed him, made him sleepy, made him feel like a safe spar- child back home, in the arms of his car- mother. _I need to stop spending_ all _my free time with Cybertronians._ It was nice, it was something a different from the stress, the pain, the nightmares, and the hopelessness that ate away at him. She made him feel safe for the first time- had it been days? He wasn't certain. He knew it couldn't have been more than a week, there was no way it had been more than a week. Maybe it had been four days, very slimly five days, since he had found himself in this world, since he had been brought to this arena that was pit.

Jack looked up at the femme that was cooing at him and rocking him like a sparkling, barely able to recall when June would do this for him. She hadn't since he was five, since just before his father started the task of "making Jack a man", making sure Jack would grow up to pursue becoming a war-medic. Jack had never been interested in becoming a war-medic, he had been more interested in becoming a teacher or maybe even a mechanic. Something simple, non-violent, and no where near violent. At least, he had until he met the Autobots. Now he's more interested in becoming an ambassador or liaison of some sort. Maybe one for aliens, like with the Autobots. That was a nice thought. Be a bridge between the humans and his family. Funny, how he had started to categorize things as either his family, Cybertronian, or human. Every now and again something would pop out and either scream "Decepticon" or "Autobot." It normally was just "Cybertronian", however.

 _It's nice,_ Jack thought. _Have things defined as one of three categories. Simpler. I like it._

* * *

She kept comforting, rocking, and cooing at the little sparkling until he was recharging, then she set him back in his cradle. It looked more like a cell, but she couldn't deny that it was designed like a play-cradle. Play-cradles were a playpen combined with a cradle, something used a workplaces for sparklings. It was made of that special clear alloy she never bothered to learn the name of, but knew on sight. Just like most Cybertronians. She was disgusted that such a place would stoop as low as passing of a glitched and deformed sparkling as a _pet_ , as though the sparkling wasn't an infant or sentient. This was one that was supposed to be used specifically for pets and pests, not for mechanimal-like sparklings. The sparkling may have _looked_ organic, but it was just that. It _looked_ organic, but it _wasn't_. She could tell by the texture of the mechling's mesh that it wasn't an organic.

 _"We found the organic in one of the acid-gutters, just outside_ The Overcharged Warrior _, where the gladiators like to gather when they're not scheduled for a fight. It seemed drawn to the lights, had climbed up six of the stairs on it's own before tiring out."_

It wasn't an organic, that sentence alone proving it. The poor sparkling had been abandoned to offline, likely by a Council Link Guard. CLGs were those who were sent out to locate and get rid of, or, worse, enslave in The Mines, glitched and deformed sparklings. Most were left to fend for themselves and offline in the acid-gutters of places where the adult-frames were incapable of adopting the sparklings due to a lack of making or having enough credits at a time to care for a sparkling. Younglings were okay to be adopted and thus were the ones usually thrown into The Mines, so it was usually sparklings who turned into thieves to survive or offlined on the streets with no one to take care of them and fewer who did care they were offlining every solarcycle. It was spark-breaking.

 _Even so,_ she sadly thought as she gazed down into the play-cradle of the "prized cowardly-warrior pet" that Executioner had taken off the streets, _That life would be better than to one such as this. At least the sparkling wouldn't be going through constant abuse, at least there was a greater chance at finding peace one way or another._

The bubblegum pink femme sighed sadly, her green optics dimmed with sorrow for the sparkling that lay, curled in it's play-cradle without so much as a thermal mesh to keep it warm. To remind him of his carrier's embrace and sparkling-chamber. A sparkling so small and young would normally be hidden away in such a chamber unless they it was restless or feeding. Otherwise, it was in the sparkling-chamber that rested just beneath where it's carrier or sire's sparkchamber, a place where the sparkling could safely gather the excess energy of it's creator's spark, strengthening it's own spark and creator-creation bond without hindering it's creator's cycle-to-cycle tasks.

She had lost her sparkmate, an honorable mech from _The Pit of Kaon_ , shortly after her third sparkling started it's framing-cycle, after it's incubation-cycle. It had been hard, as the sparkling needed energy from both creators to frame properly and to keep it's spark from going out before it is fully framed and ready to greet the world. She remembered when she got the word that her mate was offline, just two mere breems after her spark chamber had locked up in the signal that showed her sparkling had begun her framing-cycle and making it so that she wouldn't be able to transform as the sparkling got bigger and older, until the sparkling was fifty vorns, when it would be old enough to live outside the sparkling-chamber on a regular basis.

Her youngest sparkling, her youngest femmling, wouldn't have that luxury until she was one-hundred vorns old. With the death of her sparkmate, the femme's sparkling wouldn't be able to be outside the sparkling-chamber unless it was for extremely short periods of time, such as for refueling, unless she was being held next to the femme's spark or one of her old sisters' sparks. Only her eldest was big enough that her sparkling-chamber, though underdeveloped, could be used, though it wasn't advisable to do that. Thus, the femme opted to use her sparkling-chamber nearly all the time, allowing her elder sparklings (who were twenty-five-hundred and twenty-hundred vorns respectively) to only hold the youngest of them during times when she would only be gone for very short periods of time. The only reason a CLG hadn't discovered her "weak link" was because of this- she always kept her smallest sparkling hidden in her sparkling-chamber, where it was safer and her sparkling didn't have to be constantly held.

The bubblegum pink femme pausing, placing a hand on her chest-plates, just below her sparkchamber where her sparkling-chamber lay. She gazed upon Executioner's favorite "pet". He would easily know that _somone_ had taken it when he came to find the mechling gone. However, there were absolutely no security cameras in this area, as Executioner was over-confident. All she would have to do is was... It wouldn't even be hard. The only problem was her youngest femmling. The mechling was so small, he would easily be squished by her currently twenty-vorn sparkling given that at two-orns the mechling's mesh would be much too soft...

The femme ground her denta together softly in frustration, which leaked down her bonds. She got instant curiosity and wonder from her little sparklings, despite the fact that both were now second-frame adults, only five vorns apart in age. She'd had her mate to help her back then, given them two sparkling-chambers to work with for the two sparklings. She still considered them "her little sparklings", something all carriers considered their sparklings. She sent them reassurance down the bond before a thought came to mind.

 **/Ariel, sweetspark, would you mind watching picking up Arcee from me half a breem before my shift ends?/**

 **/Of course, Carrier/** Ariel immediately replied. **/May I ask why?/**

 **/I have something I need to do and Arcee doesn't need to come along. It won't take more than half a breem after my shift to complete./**

 **/You're not going to tell me what your doing, are you?/**

 **/Sorry, sweetspark. It's business that only Carrier needs to know/**

 **/You do know I'm not a sparkling anymore, right Carrier?/** Ariel asked with amusement.

 **/I know, sweetspark. But it's hard to remember with Arcee around/** the femme replied sheepishly.

 **/It's alright, Carrier/** Ariel replied.

The femme smiled to herself, knowing exactly what she would do. She just had one more thing to do, one more Cybertronian to contact. Initially, she had been curious as to why he had been prowling around the arena since the solarcycle before, but now she knew exactly why. She worked with him from time to time, as she helped out with the Resistance when she could. She was aware that he was one of the two who were wrapped around a certain archivist's smallest digit, amusing her.

 **::Sharpbite to Soundwave::**

* * *

 **::Sharpbite to Soundwave::**

Soundwave was surprised when he suddenly received a comm. request from a femme he had worked with from time to time alongside Orion and Megatronus. She was one of the more loyal Cybertronians, having lost her mate to _The Pit of Kaon_ like so many others before her. She was gladiator, but not a slave-gladiator. Her mate had been a slave-gladiator, her second sparkling being a gladiator as well. He was aware that her oldest sparkling, Ariel, worked with Orion, who had a crush on the femme. Something he'd been keeping a very sharp optic on, knowing that Megatronus would want to know if Orion got his spark broken and by who. He'd also like to know, so that he could help Megatronus punish the one who _dared_ harm the light in their lives.

 **::Yes, Sharpbite?::** Soundwave

 **::I have a package you'd be interested in. You've had your optics on it for the past solarcycle and I thought that it'd be a good thank-you present for your support and offer when my sparkmate offlined::** Sharpbite said, being vague on purpose. **::Is there someplace you and I could meet up that would be... Convenient?::** Sharpbite

Curiosity peaked, Soundwave briefly narrowed his optics a little bit. He glanced at where Ravage and Lazerbeak were playing, glad that, as Cold-Frames, they didn't need to be supervised as much as "normal" sparklings did. Despite Lazerbeak being a second-frame sparkling at two-hundred-and-fifty-vorns and Ravage being a five-hundred-vorn third-frames, ages that usually required them to have one of their creators or youngling siblings watching them if they had any, they didn't need it due to being Cold-Frames. This meant he could worry about them a healthy amount and still meet up with someone.

 **::Meet me at _Gladiator's_ :: **Soundwave

 **::Very well. I look forward to seeing you there, Soundwave::** Sharpbite

 **::As do I, Sharpbite::** Soundwave

* * *

 **Translations**

 **"Quid suus 'iniuriam, candenti?" - "What's wrong, sparkling?"**

 **Ages**

 **Twenty-five-hundred - 2500 - Roughly around 19-25 in human terms; second adult frame (there are five adult frames)**

 **Twenty-hundred/two-thousand - 2000 - think of around 19-20 in human terms; second adult frame**

 **Twenty-vorns - 20 - think of 3 months to around a year; first sparkling-frame (there are eight sparkling frames)**

 **Frames**

 **Cold-Frame: hand-built protoforms given a spark-sliver from the spark of their creator(s).**

 **Note: I will go back and fix Lazerbeak and Ravage's mentioned ages in Chapter 2: The Ring of Pests. I hadn't yet calculated how many vorns each frame lasted yet at that point.**

 **You all can probably guess where this is going. Anyways, any guesses on who Sharpbite _really_ be? I've probably made a _few_ things a bit too obvious this chapter, but damnit I wanted it done! I'm tired, it's 4:17 AM, tomorrow is Sunday, and I just wanted to _finally_ get this chapter out. It's my longest chapter for this story (might be the longest one ever) and part of that is because my A/Ns are getting rather... Long. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and goodnight!**


	5. Rescued

**In an effort to cut down the size of my Author's Notes, I have removed the Key, two Notes, and the Cybertronian to Earth time conversion. Should you need a remind, they're still in previous chapters.**

 **Nine reviews... Yeah, there goes my attempt to cut down the Author's Note... *stares at the reviews* How did I get so many for _one_ chapter? Also, a shout-out to Steelcode! Thank you so very much for helping me figure out how to write this chapter! I had no idea where I was going with this until you came along!**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Executioner/Destructor and the plot of this story, which was inspired by Cyber Rogue's _Timeframe_ and Foxbear's _Deja Vu_ (at least, I believe _Deja Vu_ was written by Foxbear- I could be wrong). Transformer, Jack, and all other characters belong to _Hasbro Studios_. Sharpbite is merely a pre-war name for the Arachnacon.**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **HufflepuffKat: I'm so happy you're enjoying this story! *smiles***_

 _ **PlatoOfAncientRome34: Can I call you Plato? You've a very long username that's hard to put down when responding to your review. I'm glad you find my story interesting and well-written. Who says they**_ **will _find out he's not a sparkling? Not where I was going with that, but that_ does _give me a few ideas I can play around with later... Hmm... *looks at story thoughtfully*_**

 ** _Cyber Rogue: I'm very happy you're liking this story so far. I couldn't really resist, since I realized I had an opportunity._**

 ** _Secret (Guest): Lol. Yes, adopt an adorable ball of fluffy cuteness called Jack. You're hilarious._**

 ** _Klenda (Guest): I'm glad you like where it's going. Yes, her appearance was a one-time thing in this story. I hadn't planned on it, then I realized I wrote myself into a corner and I could either use her or Chromia. I chose her since she was older. She will NOT be appearing again, sadly, as I am not confident when writing her._**

 _ **SmilingAnne: You got it. I thought it would be a good idea for a miniplot in the background.**_

 _ **S (Guest): Glad you like it!**_

 _ **Conspiracy: Lol. Looks like I'll have to be careful if I want to make anything subtle. Luckily, I didn't want to make that subtle.**_

 _ **Steelcode: *blushes* Th-thanks. I honestly didn't expect this story to get much attention. My stories usually don't. I'm glad you like the story, though.**_

* * *

The soft sound of _tink-tink-tink_ woke Jack up from his nap, his foggy mind barely registering a white-silver blob attached to something pink heading towards him at a slow rate. Blinking, Jack tried to figure out what he was looking at as it came close. The closer it got, the more Jack's sleepy mind began to put together what he was looking at. Slowly, white-silver, slim, perfectly rounded metal fingers came into focus as Jack slowly became more and more aware. He was about to be picked up, but he didn't want to be moved. Moving would aggravate his wounds, would bring back the pain he currently couldn't feel. He whimpered at the thought, electing a soft _click-whirr-chirp_ from the hand's owner. Jack tried to focus on the Cybertronian's face, but his foggy mind wasn't awake enough for his vision to be able to clearly make out who was about to pick him up. They sounded familiar, that coo so soothing.

Jack felt as the fingers gently moved under him, being careful to not jostle him too much. Even so, a pained whimper came from him as pain pierced his foggy mind, clearing up his vision. The first thing he noticed was spider-like appendages that caused him to give a cry of fear as he was fully picked up. Before he could move to get try and get away form the spiderfemme, he found himself suddenly against a pink chest. He blinked, realizing how fast she had moved without causing him more pain than he had felt as she moved him onto her hand. The pink armor was oddly familiar as he tried to comprehend what was going on, his fuzzy mind not yet fully awake despite the fear-adrenaline in his system. Jack hesitantly looked up at the femme, taking in green optics and white-silver hardened mesh. He blinked as his mind finally caught up, making him realize it was just Spidermother (he couldn't get past the fact she was an Arachnacon fully or just how much she had acted like a mother). Briefly, he wondered how long he had been asleep as the _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark in his ear soothed him once more.

It was amazing just how quickly he was growing drowsy again just from the _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark, making him wonder if sparks were built in a way that was _meant_ to put the listener to sleep. It seemed like it, which was so different from a heart. Hearts sounded a little bit more like a drum with it's _thump-thump-thump_ rhythm, so it was harder to fall asleep to it's tune unless you were very, very young. Perhaps that was why Jack liked Spidermother's sparkpulse so much, it was soothing and helped him sleep. As his mind grew more and more sluggish as sleep pulled at him again, Jack realized that he hadn't had nightmares when her spark put him to sleep, causing him to start succumbing to the sound more quickly. Sparkpulse meant no nightmares and no pain, meaning that he would be at peace.

Just as Jack was about to fall fully back into sleep, movement that drew him away from her sparkpulse began to awaken him once more. The sound that followed metal shifting, transforming followed, causing confusion in the tired, half-asleep boy. Jack did his best to look around without moving too much as he realized he was no longer cradled, but was cupped in her hands. He didn't understand why until he saw that her chest area, not the part holding her sparkchamber, but the part just below, was now open. Fear sparked inside of him as he was lowered to the blackness of the now open chamber, causing him to whine and struggle weakly. His brain was still half-asleep, however, and something told him he was safe despite the fact that the awake half of his mind was freaking out. As he struggled, opening his mouth to cry out again, he was stopped by a soft _click-whirr-chirp_ from Spidermother.

 **"Candenti quietam, non erit finis,"** Spidermother cooed at him, calming him down.

While it calmed his half-awake mind, Jack still knew that he didn't want to go into someplace that was absolutely pitch black. He was terrified of the dark, recalling one of his many punishments for being "bad" when his karma for being "selfish" didn't kick in. It didn't kick in if he was doing something bad, something that was only selfish because it was bad. He hadn't originally been afraid of the dark, it was just another thing his father made him fear. He shook as he was lowered into the empty space, watching with wide eyes as her hands disappeared, light following soon after as she closed the chamber up. The sound of metal and gears grinding and clicking echoed loudly, too loudly, as the space big enough to hold around ten of Ratchet's hand-held energon detectors and entirely enclosed. Jack shivered as everything was plunged into such a blackness that Jack couldn't even tell the difference of when his eyes were closed or open, causing him to tremble worse.

Jack felt like crying again when the sudden sound of gears moving, grinding, creaking and the swaying motion of Spidermother moving spooked him. He was afraid and couldn't see. He hated it when he couldn't see, when it was dark. It was why he liked living in a town, why he liked knowing where his friends and family were. It reassured him he was safe, something that this didn't do.

Yet, amongst the loud sounds from Spidermother's moving, there was another sound. This sound wave more soothing and something Jack immediately latched onto, quickly focusing on it to dispel the fear brought by the other loud sounds and the darkness. It was softer, but unmistakable. A sparkpulse. Jack was underneath Spidermother's spark, surprising him. He didn't realize where he was, was _directly_ beneath her sparkchamber. He focused on the soft _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark and felt his mind drifting off again, the other sounds quickly fading from his hearing. He now knew for certain that sparkpulses were meant to put one to sleep when heard. There could be no other explanation for it.

As Jack slowly began to slip back into sleep, he could have sworn that he heard someone familiar call out, **"Heus, Aranea! Nos opus est loqui tecum!"**

* * *

 **"Hey, Sharpbite! We need to talk to you!"**

Sharpbite sighed at the voice of Strika, one of the Cybertronians who took over her shift in five klicks. She turned back to the deep green, burly femme with crimson optics, a femme she didn't like because she enjoyed pain a little too much.

 **"What do you want, Strika?"** she asked, her voice irritated. She had to force herself to not use a soft voice, knowing that that would make her look both weak and suspicious.

 **"What are you doing off early?"** Strika demanded as her little lackey, a mech called "Runner" if Sharpbite remembered right, came up to them with a cube of energon.

 **"What's it to you? Unlike you, I do have other loyalties,"** Sharpbite bit back, glaring. **"And I'm not entitled to tell you what they are. Especially since, if I remember correctly, you've been thinking of smuggling some of these pets out of here to sell because many of them happen to be exotic."**

Strika's optics widened and she glanced around quickly, making sure there were no other witnesses besides Runner, who quickly took a few steps back. As soon as she was certain she and Sharpbite were alone (minus Runner), she quickly turned a glare on the smaller, more lanky femme. Her fists clenched as she walked closer to the femme, towering over Sharpbite intimidatingly.

 **"What did you just say, Insecticon?"** she snarled, purposefully using the wrong race name for the femme.

 **"You heard me,"** Sharpbite said coldly, taking the implied insult in stride. **"I accused you of planning to steal from Executioner. Now, I wonder just _what_ her might think about having a potential _thief_ guarding his precious Avikirush."**

 **"You glitchmouse!"** Strika roared, pulling a fist back and throwing it forward.

Sharpbite was smaller, quicker than the larger femme and dodged the punch easily. She knew she had to be careful of her sparkling chamber, knowing that, despite the extra armor, that wouldn't matter if Strika was the one to land a hit. Sharpbite noticed that Runner was, wisely, staying out of the femmes' fight and thus ignored him. Strika threw another punch and Sharpbite wisely dodged once more. Sharpbite may have been a gladiator, but so was Strika. Strika was nearly on Megatronus' level and there was rumors that Strika might be the one to finally knock the mech off his pedestal in the arena.

Sharpbite knew that Strika would never be a match for the leader of the Resistance, even if larger femme trained for a million vorns. It was simply something that was common knowledge amongst those in the Resistance, just like everyone in the Resistance knew that Megatronus would only ever let Orion Pax beat him at anything without either doing their best. Everyone in the Resistance knew about how Orion Pax had the leader wrapped around his littlest digit, something none of them minded as it made the leader less gruff and intimidating, making it easier to approach him about their problems that he, with or without Orion, was willing to help them with.

As her mind had been distracted, Sharpbite cried out as Strika's fist slammed into her shoulder-strut, throwing the femme off balance and causing her to crash into the ground. Sharpbite groaned in pain, but quickly rolled out of the way of Strika's next attack. She got to her pedes quickly and jumped up, towards a wall that was nearby. Angling herself perfectly, she pushed off the wall and did a flip in the air, still remembering her sparkling chamber to ensure she shifted just right so the sparkling wasn't disturbed. As she came down, she had her pedes angled perfectly. Like she expected, Strika dodged. The moment she touched down, she shifted her weight and threw herself into a spin, one stabilizing-servo out. Her ankle-strut slammed into the larger femme's shoulder-struts. Sharpbite's force and speed in her attack stacked on top of her strength, which ended up making the stronger femme crash into the same wall Sharpbite had launched off of. Sharpbite had been quick enough that Strika hadn't had the chance to brace.

The moment Strika hit the ground, Sharpbite had jumped back a ways and braced herself in a defensive stance. She waited as Strika picked herself up, seeing the rage in the femme's optics. Sharpbite felt dread pool in her tanks as she waited for the next attack from the brash femme that was much larger and stronger than her. In fact, Sharpbite was so focused on Strika that she had forgotten Strika's lethal little speedster.

She never saw the attack from Runner coming, so she wasn't ready when his small form suddenly slammed into her. She wasn't braced for an attack from the side, quickly loosing balance. This allowed the sneaky little slagheap to wrap his arm around her waist and launch her halfway across the large room that made up the currently empty "lobby" of _The Ring of Pests_. Sharpbite cried out as she hit the ground at a surprising velocity, given she had been launched by a smaller mech. Her cry, however, didn't cover the higher pitched cry of anguish that came from her sparkling chamber. She froze, optics snapping to where her chamber was as she froze, not moving an inch. By how the other two had frozen, they had also heard the pitched cry of an injured sparkling.

 **"You... You... You bring your youngest with you to... To work...?"** Runner choked out in shock, optics wide. **"What kind of Carrier brings their sparkling to this kind of job?"**

Despite all his faults, this reminded Sharpbite that Runner had his own sparkling on the way back at his home. Unlike Strika, he did have a spark was only in this for the credits it earned him so he could support his family. Strika was in it for the amusement of seeing weaker creatures hurt each other or be hurt for refusing to hurt another. He was just as sickened by this place as she was, but needed the credits it paid.

 **"I don't have much of a choice, as my mate is dead and was a Slave-Gladiator. My second oldest is also a Gladiator and my eldest works somewhere where she cannot give any attention to her youngest sibling,"** Sharpbite spat, glaring at them. She was glad very few knew that her youngest was a femmling, as her youngest was her best kept secret. Unfortunately, now _Strika_ knew.

 **"Since you don't have a problem with bringing your youngest here,"** Strika taunted, speaking before thinking, **"Why not throw the sparkling into the ring completely? Prepare him for the _big bad_ world."**

There are some things you never say to an Insecticon. There are fewer you don't say to an Arachnacon. There are even few that you _never, ever_ say to an Arachnacon carrier. Suggesting she endanger the life of a sparkling, any sparkling, let alone his or her _own_ sparkling is on the top of that list. Strika had just done this, causing Sharpbite's optics to flash to red. By the time that Strika had recognized her mistake and the change in Sharpbite, she was on her back as the now berserk Arachnacon took her down suddenly.

Sharpbite's six legs were in their attack position, the femme about to strike with Strika frozen in fear at the smaller femme's sudden change in demeanor. Runner had wisely chosen to stay out of this, knowing that Strika had crossed a line with her words. Before Sharpbite could strike, however, there was a sudden, harsh voice snapping the three's attention to it.

 **"Strika! Runner! Sharpbite! What the Pit do you three think you are doing?!"**

Sharpbite, still in position to kill Strika, snapped her optics to Executioner, who looked equal parts shocked and enraged. Sharpbite took a moment to collect herself and back off of Strika before she finally replied.

 **"Many apologies, Executioner, Sir. We were merely... Settling our differences,"** she replied, her optics still a glowing crimson as she turned to look at her "boss."

 **"Well, while you three were settling your differences, someone made off with Avikirush!"** he snarled at her, optics bright with fury. **"I have lost my greatest investment because you fools were so incompetent!"**

 **"Many apologies,"** Strika said softly, Executioner being one of the few mechs whom she feared. **"We assumed no one would be so bold as to ever go near one so prized by you, the most feared Slave-Master on Cybertron."**

That was a weakness of Executioner. Flatter was something the mech absolutely loved and he longed to be praised for every little accomplishment, making it easy to get out of trouble for certain things. However, should he discover you did something on purpose and used flatter to get out of it, the punishment would be sever.

 **"I suppose that would've been an acceptable assumption to make,"** Executioner said cautiously, **"After all, I am quite intimidating. No one has ever attempted to steal from me before... Yes, of course you would have assumed no one would steal from me."**

Sharpbite suddenly knew that she would regret ever crossing the line she had if he discovered what she had done. She prayed he never would figure out it was _she_ who had taken Steelfear away from him, knowing just how great his wrath would be with how much he favored his little "pet."

 **"Now, what was it you three were fighting over? I cannot have my workers killing each other- I can't have hiding frames, paying certain Cybertronians for silence, ect. on my severos. I'm a very busy mech and hiring replacements is _quite_ the bother,"** Executioner said, crossing his servos across his chest-plates.

 **"I stepped out of line, Sir,"** Strika said, surprising Sharpbite by taking responsibility. **"I said something extremely offensive to Sharpbite as she was leaving to attend something and have made her late to her other engagements. I started and escalated the fight. She was merely defending herself."**

 **"I see,"** Executioner said, studying each of them. **"You should be more careful. After all, it is a crime to harm a sparkling in Kaon, weather or not it was directly or in directly. Sparklings aren't even whipped in The Mines."**

This surprised them, given how many orphans and gutter-sparklings they'd all seen and the horror stories told of The Mines. Seeing their shocked expressions, the mech shrugged and began to walk away. He carelessly said one last thing over his should-struts.

 **"Not everything that upstart "Megatronus" says is true,"** he called to them as he disappeared around a corner.

Oh. Sharpbite suddenly understood his game, causing her to scowl as her optics finally returned to their normal green color. She turned to leave when an alarm rang in her head. How had he known she'd had a sparkling in her chamber? She had been so careful, so how did he know? As she walked away from her second "work" place, glancing over her shoulder-struts uneasily, she felt dread pool in her tanks once again. That encounter had been too short, the punishment too easy to evade, and his words too casual. She wasn't sure how, but he _knew_. He knew and she was no longer safe.

* * *

Jack was in pain when he finally woke up again, sometime after the last time he woke up. He was in pain from the last time he woke up, which was when he had been thrown into Spidermother's side. The metal on metal _grind_ had informed him that she probably been in a fight and was tossed to the side. He had heard them talking before the pain had caused him to pass out. Now that he was awake again, he was aware that he probably had a broken arm or at least a dislocated shoulder with how much it was hurting him. He didn't dare move from the spot where he was lying, where had moved when she had been moving fast suddenly. He whimpered lightly in pain as he was forcefully shifted every now and again as she moved.

The swaying movement of her walking was soothing to some extent, as was the _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark. However, the pain kept him from falling asleep once again. He wished he could fall back asleep, that the pain could vanish back into numbness, but he knew it wouldn't. He also knew it probably wasn't a good idea for him to fall asleep right now anyways. He might have a concussion, though it was a miracle he hadn't cracked his skull open. Everything hurt, though his surface wounds didn't feel as bad as they had before.

Jack had slept a lot more than before- three times in one day. He knew it was the same day, his internal compass told him that it was still the same day. He was also positive it was his fifth day on Cybertron too. He wasn't certain as he hadn't seen the outside and had no way to truly know how long he had been around. He was rather sure it was day five, as Spidermother had to be the "night watch", given he hadn't seen her until now. He had eaten twice a day for three days, then skipped breakfast the day before, but Spidermother had smuggled him dinner despite the fact he hadn't been supposed to eat as a punishment. Thus, it would be day five as that had given him four days and made this day five.

Five days. An entire school week. He'd been missing for that long. His mother must be worried sick, his friends wondering when he would finally come home, the Autobots blaming themselves. He could just imagine how Arcee was taking this, how she had probably either crumbled in on herself or completely devoted herself to his mother. Either way, Jack knew what it would do to her to have "lost" another partner. Jack wished he could return, could show her that he was alright, but he didn't think there was any way to him to return home. Besides, even if there was, he would need Cybertronian help and he didn't know how to communicate with the ones around him. He could barely pronounce "Avikirush", his Cybertronian name as given by Destructor.

Jack regretted that he actually had no clue how Raf and Miko would react to him being gone, as he had done his best to not get too close to them. He hadn't wanted to get too close in case his dad came back and didn't want his friends to be somehow hurt, as his father usually found a way to damage his relationships, no matter what they were. Jack regretted that he hadn't tried to get to know their guardians better, especially after how he had used Bumblebee just to try to impress Sierra and maybe win some of Vince's sympathies at last. He regretted he hadn't tried to get to know Ratchet or Optimus, how he had let himself be intimidated by them. What he did know of Optimus came from times that forced him to go directly to the 'Bot in hopes finding out if he had upset the leader or not.

Even so, Jack knew that the Autobots would blame themselves for not protecting him better just from those brief interactions with them. It was how the gentle giants acted, something that made Jack regret many of his actions.

Tears stung Jack's eyes and he quickly wiped at them with his uninjured arm before anyone-

Before who...? Who would see him cry in a dark little chamber inside of a Cybertronian? Who would hear him cry over the sounds made in the chamber? Who did he have to be strong for, who did he have to impress while here?

For once, Jack felt grateful for the darkness. He began to cry, to weep just as he had done earlier, before he met Spidermother. He cried and sobbed, the sounds covered by the loud grinding of gears and gentle scraping of metal clinking together. Jack cried and wept and sobbed, knowing that no one was able to see or hear him do so. No one who would judge him, who would make him feel weak and like a horrible person. For once he was completely and utterly _safe_.

Jack wasn't sure for how long he cried, but when he was done, he had painfully moved himself into a curled position. His back leant against what he assumed was Spidermother's back, but he couldn't be certain. His mind felt numb, but his head hurt from the crying. His nose was stuffed, but he felt a little better now that he had cried until he couldn't cry anymore. It also felt nice to have his mind so numb that he couldn't think, since he didn't want to think about anything depressing anymore. The gentle swaying brought on by Spidermother's walking and the _pulse-beat-pulse_ of her spark was nice too, making him feel calm and safe.

Jack must have drifted off again at some point, because a blinding light roused him from where he had his head buried in his knees. He was aware of Spidermother and an unknown mech talking, but couldn't really focus. He felt himself being passed off into much thinner digits, but it didn't really sink in until he realized that Spidermother's pink form was walking away from him. His eyes widened and he was suddenly wide awake as he tried to sit up, only to cry out in pain at the movement, which was much too quick and aggravated his wounds heavily.

A paper-thin digit that was square-ish in shape pushed him down onto his back, causing him to freeze a bit. He was being cradled against a broad chest that was somewhat triangular, the familiar armor and frame shape was black, but he knew it anywhere. Slowly, Jack began to look up towards the mech's head, shock filling him at what he saw in place of a visor. Two soft lilac optics gently started back, a look of comfort in them as Soundwave cradled Jack against his chest. In the blinding light of the sunrise, Jack could clearly see the claw-like wounds that were now welding scars, ones that went from the top of the right side of his head down to the left side, on Soundwave's face. Jack wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt even safer than he had with Spidermother and he couldn't figure out why. Even so, he did.

 **"Es tutam modo modicum unum. Promitto protegere, Conchobhar."**

Jack didn't understand what those words meant, but the warmth in Soundwave's soft, melodic voice made the remenants of Jack's walls crumble. Jack was _safe_ , brought here by a femme who risked the wrath of a very evil mech. He was cradled in the servos of a future enemy, but he was _safe._ At this knowledge, Jack couldn't help himself despite the fact he was supposed to have gotten it out of his system.

Jack wept with relief.

* * *

 **Translations**

 **Candenti quietam, non erit finis - Quiet sparkling, you will be fine.**

 **Heus, Aranea! Nos opus est loqui tecum! - Hey, Sharpbite! We need to talk to you!**

 **Es tutam modo modicum unum. Promitto protegere, Conchobhar. - You're safe now, little one. I promise to protect you, Conchobhar.**

 **Names**

 **Aranea - Latin for "spider". Chose for it to be how her name sounds in Cybertronian because I didn't want to go through the entire process of getting a mixed name for her like I did four times for Jack. Yes, I was lazy. Deal with it.**

 **Primus! This is probably my longest written chapter ever! It sucked when I wrote it, because I ended up having to do a sorta-kinda fight scene _and_ do some more emotional turmoil stuff. On top of that, I had to rewrite like half of Jack's part there at the end because my computer is a piece of _crap_. It's also, like, 3am or something over here, on top of that, making this even more of a pain. I'm tired, but I needed to get this chapter out. I nearly cried again, probably would have if I wasn't so damn tired... Anyways, goodnight all of you! Thanks for reading.**


	6. Check-Up

**I try to cut down the size of this A/N, yet the reviews still cause it to be nearly five hundred words! Yeesh, how the heck did this become so popular?**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Executioner/Destructor and the plot of this story, which was inspired by Cyber Rogue's _Timeframe_ and Foxbear's _Deja Vu_ (at least, I believe _Deja Vu_ was written by Foxbear- I could be wrong). Transformer, Jack, and all other characters belong to _Hasbro Studios_. Sharpbite is merely a pre-war name for the Arachnacon.**

 **Key:**

 ** _Sibling Bond_** **(I'm adding this since it's in use this chapter)**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **Master Shorty 11: Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad that you like it! Honestly, this is only the second story of mine that's gotten popular, although it's quickly replacing my first one as the favorite of my readers. Sorry that I'm replying to your review in chapter six- your review wasn't registered until I had already hit "submit" for chapter five.**_

 _ **Plato: *giggles* You're hilarious. I'm glad that you like the story so much! No typos? Really? Huh. Actually, the idea you gave me is reserved for another story that**_ **might _focus on Miko. Not sure yet._**

 ** _HufflepuffKat: *blushes* O-oh? I'm so happy you like it so much! Sadly, Jack's true reaction may not be for a while. You'll see why in this chapter._**

 ** _Dimensional Phaser: Thanks. I'm glad you like it. And of course he is. I'm not someone who'd keep Jack in a bad situation for too long._**

 ** _WriterOfTheCursed: I'm so happy you're enjoying the story!_**

 ** _Cyber Rogue: I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter! Lol. I think everyone was cheering for Sharpbite._**

 ** _The Whispering Shade: 3 am? Really? Wow. I'm so happy you felt this story was worth reading for that long! No, Jack is 100% human, I promise you that. I'll explain everything in time about why he's not being registered as organic by some. As for the pit, anyone could survive for a while in there if it's the only way to survive. That and Destructor wasn't about to let his most prized "pet" offline. As for the air, there's nothing to say that Cybertron_ doesn't _have breathable air._**

 ** _Steelcode: *blushes* I'm still amazed I'm receiving such high praise for a currently six-chapter story! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and the fight scene, which was technically the first one I've ever written out._**

 ** _MadnessJones: Glad you like it! The reason I chose to portray Jack's father this way is because I didn't want him to be out-right abusive. Manipulative, yes, but not intentionally abusive. That trope has been used one too many times, I'm afraid. And yes, she is who a cannon character was pre-war. Yes, Chromia is the gladiator daughter. Will she be a direct character in this story instead of just mentioned? I don't know. Depends on how I end up handling the next few chapters._**

 ** _CoGDork: That's the point. Jack's regression is an emphasis of the kind of trauma he was unintentionally put through by a control-freak of a father who didn't realize what he was doing could be classified as abuse. Considering that June never stood up to the man and even supported the idea that Jack should fear weapons to the point of never even thinking about touching them, they both unintentionally traumatized him badly. Of course, the dad was an asshole either way, but you see my point. Will Jack heal? Only time will tell. Sadly, time alone cannot heal all wounds as some people claim._**

* * *

Soundwave was able to walk for a good solid half breem with sparkling, with Conchobar, cradled in his arms against his chestplates. The scarred warrior glanced down at Conchobar's recharging form, utter relief filling his spark at seeing and feeling the presence of the tiny mechling in his arms. The sparkling mechling seemed to be recharging peacefully, causing Soundwave to silently wonder how long it had been since the young sparkling had received a proper recharge. However, that was not the main worrying factor, as the sparkling seemed to get warmer as they walked. This was extremely worrying, as the sparkling shouldn't be getting so warm so quickly. Pausing a moment, he shifted Conchobar into one servo, using a digit to feel the sparkling more clearly. A deep frown of concern came to his faceplates as he realized that Conchobar was overheating and was too small to have a properly developed cooling system. He shifted open his sparkling-chamber, carefully setting Conchobar inside without waking the mechling. Closing the area, Soundwave turned on his cooling systems, keeping them on a suitable setting, and focused the cooling fans on his sparkling-chamber. It was the best that he could do until he was able to get Orion's opinion on which medic to go to.

Soundwave walked swiftly, a new purpose in his steps as he headed towards Megatronus' apartment. He was extremely worried about Conchobar, so he moved quicker. However, he was still nearly two breems from Megatronus' apartment and Cybertronians were starting to emerge from their homes. Thus, he couldn't walk at too quick a pace, though he wanted to run to his friend's house. He knew he had to look casual, maybe in a hurry, but not suspicious. If he looked suspicious, he could attract attention that wasn't good for Conchobar, who needed the right kind of attention or things might go downhill for the poor mechling.

As the lilac opticed warrior walked, he allowed his processor to wonder how Orion would react to the sparkling's condition. He internally winced at the thought, knowing that the mech would be through the roof at the fact the mechling was clearly getting ill. How ill, Soundwave couldn't be certain until they got the mechling to a medic. Soundwave just hoped that Orion knew a medic that wouldn't tell anyone that had anything to do with the Council about the sparkling, knowing the dangers of that. _Of course Orion knows somebot,_ Soundwave scolded himself. _Besides, we have no choice since Megatronus and I don't know any medics..._ Soundwave shook his helm, frowning to himself as he swiftly walked. He really needed to talk to Megatronus about finding a trustworthy medic they could quickly go to in emergencies like this. He also had to hope Megatronus wouldn't be his overly paranoid self about it.

* * *

 **"Primus, Orion! Will you stop pacing? You're going to wear a hole in my floor!"** Megatronus growled, glaring at his dataclerk friend.

He didn't want to admit it, but Orion's pacing was making him nervous. Orion had been pacing for the past two breems since they got the comm. from Soundwave about the sparkling, whom they had recently decided to call Laofeach when together. Considering it had been two breems and the sun had begun to rise since Soundwave contacted them, it made Megatronus wonder where Soundwave had retrieved the sparkling from. Someone had clearly brought him the sparkling, as _The Ring of Pests_ was apparently only a breem from where he lived (a disturbing thought to the gladiator).

 **"I'm sorry, but receiving that late lunar comm. from Soundwave telling us that he had the sparkling and to meet here has me on nervous pedes. We do not know the condition of the sparkling or how much attention he is going to need after this horrible experience."** Orion replied, his voice print clearly stating the mech's worry. **"Not only that, but it's been _two breems_ , Megatronus! He should have bene here _at least_ half a breem a go!"**

The mech had paused to stare at Megatronus with worried filled blue optics. After stating his piece, however, he began to pace again. His worry and fear was evident, as they didn't know the extent of the sparkling's condition. Orion knew that, while Megatronus wouldn't admit it, the older mech was just as worried as he was despite the calm façade. This was more than just a new situation for them- it was a new situation with a new type of stake: the life of a sparkling. They'd had situations that endangered a mech or femme's life before, but never one that endangered a sparkling's life.

Megatronus understood that Orion was scared for the life of the sparkling, and, if the gladiator allowed himself to admit it, he was as well. This was unknown territory and Orion had every right to be worried and even scared. Megatronus couldn't allow himself to admit his feelings however, needing to be the strong one. He knew Orion would worry himself to death if he wasn't strong for the other mech, as Orion had an unhealthy habit of obsessing over something if it worried him. Thus, he tended to neglect himself during this time and Megatronus had to be the one to keep an eye on his friend. He just hoped that Soundwave would arrive soon.

 _Knock... Knock... Knock..._

Orion was at the door in an instant when, half a breem later, three perfectly spaced and precise knocks came to the door. He knew before he wrenched the door open that it was Soundwave, relief shifting onto his faceplates as he opened the door. Orion quickly ushered Soundwave in, slamming the door behind him.

 **"Soundwave! Thank Primus you're alright!"** Orion cried with relief, keeping his voice at a moderate level. **"Where on Cybertron were you?! You sent the comm. two and a half breems ago!"**

 **"My apologies, Orion,"** Soundwave said. **"I had to meet a contact at _Gladiators_. They had little Laofeach with them."**

 **"Who was it, Soundwave? You're being unnecessarily vague about this Cybertronian,"** Megatronus said with a frown. **"How do you know we can trust them? What if they turn us in? What if-"**

 **"Forget the contact!"** Orion snapped. **"We need to see the sparkling! Where is he? I need to check him over!"**

 **"Megatronus, I will make a formal report at a later date,"** Soundwave stated, his sparkling chamber shifting open. **"However, we need to get the sparkling to a medic. He is unnaturally warm. I believe him to be overheating at a dangerous rate and I fear he may already have a dangerous temperature."**

Soundwave carefully pulled the unconscious sparkling from his chamber, passing the little one to Orion, whom frowned at how glitched and deformed the little thing was. Just as Soundwave had described to them, the sparkling was unnaturally small and both were certain the mechling was premature. He was just much too small, something Orion had felt some surprise to see. He wasn't used to seeing such tiny sparklings, having never seen a premature one. Nor a deformed or glitched one, for that matter, much less to this extent. As Orion held the sparkling, he became increasingly aware of just how _warm_ the sparkling was. Turning on his receptors, he felt for the exact temperature, his sparkling protocols immediately bombarding him with alerts.

 **"Laofeach definitely needs a medic,"** Orion said, worry lacing his voice print. **" _Now_. We have to go to Ratchet- Ratchet is the best with sparklings and won't tell the council."**

Before Megatronus could launch an argument or interrogate Orion to ensure that Ratchet was safe, Orion glared at him. It was a "we don't have time for this" glare, making Megatronus glance down at the sparkling. He then nodded, although begrudgingly. He didn't think going to see this medic was a good idea, but he had to trust Orion immediately on this one. He had to trust this "Ratchet" despite his suspicions this time. _It's for Orion,_ Megatronus reminded himself as he followed his dear friend to the medic's, taking note how Optimus merely concealed the sparkling in his arm as though he was more or less holding a smaller datapad and was taking precaution against the possibility of acid rain. Megatronus guessed that Orion didn't trust putting Laofeach in his sparkling chamber, meaning the sparkling's condition was dire. Other than that, it was a genius way to conceal the sparkling as they headed off to see Ratchet.

 **"How far off is Ratchet?"** Megatronus enquired as he stuck close to Orion.

 **"Not too far off. Ratchet actually works here in Kaon, despite living in Iacon,"** Orion explained. **"He likes to help those less fortunate, though he doesn't always have the best berth-side manner."**

 **"I see,"** Megatronus said. **"That reduces the chance of something happening to Laofeach when he's here. But what if he's in Iacon with you?"**

 **"I'm not slow,"** Orion said. **"Plus I have some short cuts I can take."**

 **"That's convenient,"** Soundwave noted.

 **"You learn a lot hanging out with a mech like Jazz,"** Orion explain cheerfully, keeping up the premise of small talk between friends.

Orion was surprised at how easy it was to fake the premise of nothing being amiss, despite the fact that he was holding an ill sparkling. He honestly was terrified for the sparkling with how ill he seemed. Orion was amazed he was able to keep a normal pace, that he was able to stay calm despite how terrified he was. What if the sparkling was close to expiring already? What if it was already too late? The sparkling was so small and weak... What if they couldn't help it? What if- _No, Orion Pax, stop. The sparkling will be fine,_ Orion reassured himself. _Nothing bad will happen to the sparkling. Nothing._ Yet bad things had already happened to the sparkling.

 _ **Orion, you are worried,**_ Megatron noted over their brother-bond. **_We both are, I'll admit. But you need to calm down, your sparkbeat may become erratic and scare the sparkling. You also may begin to panic. Take a deep invent._**

 ** _Sorry_ _,_ _B_ _rother,_** Orion replied. _**It's just so hard to not think of the bad what-ifs. Especially with how tiny and deformed he is. Have you ever seen such a thing?**_

 _ **I'm afraid not, Brother,**_ Megatron said regretfully. _**He looks quite organic, I must admit. However, I can tell that he is not. No organic's framework is so like us in appearance.**_

 _ **If doesn't feel like the organic skin samples from my lessons either,**_ Optimus mentioned thoughtfully. _**It feels like a much softer mesh- something like those micromesh cloths that are recommended for cleaning off those rare crystalline objects the High Caste mechs and femmes can afford.**_

 _ **I sometimes forget that you have friends in high places, Orion,**_ Megatron said dryly. _**Alright, I'll take the bait. Who let you touch some of that stuff?**_

 _ **It's was Ironhide. You remember him, right? The son of the Council Guard Captain that's been feeding us intel for nearly a vorn now?**_ Orion asked.

 _ **Ah, yes. The one that Soundwave's reports note as "loyal to a fault" and "seems eligible for the Prime's Guard,**_ Megatron responded. _**I'm amazed he chose to lay his loyalty to us. If he wasn't actually loyal to us, I'm rather certain we would've been found out by now. Even so, I want Laofeach's existence to be known to a few as possible.**_

 _ **I can agree with that,**_ Orion said in return.

* * *

The three walked for at least half a breem before they arrived at Ratchet's small clinic, located close to a small energon store called _Trinket's Cubes_. Megatron admitted to Orion that he had passed the small clinic, _Ratchet's Fixer-Upper_ , quite a few times since he liked to buy his energon rations from _Trinket's_ , as the store owner, Trinket, was a nice femme that didn't discriminate against anyone. He also liked her because she would often smuggle energon to the sparklings and younglings of the streets. Orion had to admit that that was a very noble thing to do, but was surprised she wasn't interested in joining the Resistance. She apparently thought it was too risky for the ones of the Lower Caste.

Orion couldn't help but smile when they finally arrived at _Fixer-Upper_ , knowing that his old friend would be there and would help Laofeach. As Soundwave moved forward to hit the button that would open the door, Megatronus finally spoke up.

 **"What makes you so sure that this "Ratchet" will help us and not tell anyone?"** Megatronus asked, unable to help his suspicions and paranoia.

 **"You'll see,"** Orion said vaguely with a bright smile.

Megatronus gave his friend an odd look as the three went inside, Soundwave opting to stay silent. The clinic, despite it's outward appearance, was absolutely pristine on the inside. The cleanliness of the place actually made Megatronus and Soundwave take a step back, feeling sorely out of place. It didn't help that the walls were a bright, somehow _cheerful_ grey color or that they could literally _see their reflections_ in the metal walls and floors. Megatronus noticed that Orion was unsurprised and narrowed his optics, curious about else what Orion had neglected to tell them about this "Ratchet".

 **"Unk' 'On!"** a cheerful, squeaky little voice cheered. **"You 'ere! You 'ere!"**

The voice came from a tiny little mechling that was probably just entering his second or third sparkling frame. Like the rest of the place, the sparkling was absolutely shiny and was a bright, cheery red coloring. Megatronus and Soundwave were surprised to see the sparkling, though Orion clearly wasn't.

 **"Hello, Knockout,"** Orion greeted the mechling as he knelt down a bit. **"Is your sire available? My friends and I need to speak to him about something."**

 **"'Bout wha'? He's free, but wha' you tal' to 'im 'bout?"** Knockout replied, curious in the way that all sparklings were.

Orion smiled gently at the sparkling and showed Laofeach to him, watching as the sparkling's eyes went wide in wonder.

 **"He's so tiny!"** Knockout exclaimed, amazed. **"Is he a spa'klin' too?"**

 **"That's right. He is also sick and needs help from your sire,"** Orion explained patiently. **"Can you go get your sire for us?"**

Little Knockout nodded vigorously, spinning on his pedes and running off to fetch Ratchet. Orion smiled as the little one scampered off and stood back up, careful of the sparkling he cradled against his spark. He turned to his friends, who both had narrowed optics as they looked at him, both expecting an explanation about little Knockout, who didn't look like a medical caste sparkling.

 **"Knockout is a mixed-caste sparkling. His carrier, Ratchet's mate, is from the show caste,"** Orion explained. **"Their relationship is a secret and Knockout is being passed of as adopted to the officials. He'll be raised as a medical caste member, though his frame type is more typical of the show caste."**

 **"I now understand why you're trusting this Ratchet with Laofeach,"** Megatronus said, acknowledging that coming to Ratchet was a good idea.

 **"You must be Megatronus,"** a new voice said as a primarily orange Cybertronian approached with a scowl that seemed to be permanently imbedded in his face. **"Orion, why is it that you three are here and Knockout is insisting you have a sparkling with you? Last I checked, you weren't interested in adoption and didn't have a mate. I doubt these two gladiators have sparklings, as it would be common knowledge by now with their fame."**

 **"Hello to you too, Ratchet,"** Orion replied, rolling his optics. **"Yes, we have a sparkling with us. We just rescued him from a bad situation and think he's extremely ill. We chose to come to you since you're the only medic I trust to not tell the council about this."**

 **"About what?"** Ratchet asked suspiciously, walking over when Orion beckoned him.

There was silence after Ratchet saw Laofeach, tension slowly rising from the overprotective Soundwave. This in turn made Megatronus start to tense up, preparing to intervene if Soundwave choose to see Ratchet as a threat. Both mechs relaxed when the silence was broken.

 **"Orion... Where the _frag_ did you find this sparkling?"** Ratchet demanded as he carefully snatched the little one away, immediately heading towards the area for patients. **"Dents, mesh tears, what appears to be a type of rust infection on top of overheating! We'll be _lucky_ if he doesn't have the Cyberflu, Meshrust, or a kind of Energon Deficiency! And not to mention what might be wrong with his internal systems!"**

Orion sighed and explained to Ratchet about how they found Laofeach. Soundwave's looking into _The Ring of Pests_ , the discovery of them forcing the sparkling to fight for it's life, the choice to rescue and raise the sparkling, and how Soundwave had a contact that had been the one to actually get Laofeach free. They did not mention the names they all had chosen for Laofeach.

 **"Barbaric, no-good, glitched pit-spawns of Unicron..."** Ratchet growled under his breath at what he was told, barely able to believe it.

He set Laofeach down on the operation berth made specifically for sparklings. He then went and grabbed the scanner he had modified specifically for glitched and deformed sparklings. Hooking it up, he turned it on before turning on the monitor. He slowly began the scanning process, looking over at the monitor as it progressed. He frowned at what he was seeing on it, grapping a datapad. He began to scribe down every injury that popped up on the scanner, muttering to himself. He could barely believe _any_ Cybertronian would treat a sparkling this cruelly, then reminded himself that they council did exist. When the scanner beeped and he had scribed down every last listed injury, he scowled at the datapad. He turn to the expectant mechs, pausing to force himself not the smile at the way that Megatronus acted like a strict yet worried sire while Orion and Soundwave acted like worried carriers.

 **"Well, medic?"** Megatronus growled, impatient and anxious.

 **"Aside from the numerous dents and mesh tears,"** Ratchet began, " **he has a very weak form of Meshrust that isn't life-threatening, luckily. Any longer and it may have started to become deadly. He does, however, have a severely cracked sparkchamber, the lower hydraulic piston of his left stabilizing-servo is misaligned, and his right servo hydraulic has a few small dents."**

There was silence. The three mechs were stunned there wasn't more damage done, but then realized how Ratchet had described the sparkling's sparkchamber.

 **"How severe is "severely cracked"?"** Orion asked, tone somewhat fearful.

 **"Well, for one it's amazing that his air filters are still working correctly enough to keep him as cool as he is,"** Ratchet said, **"He should have a much higher overall frame temperature. His temperature hasn't really risen since arriving here. On top of that, he has sixteen cracked sparkchamber beams, two of which should definitely be broken. There is a dent on the sparkchamber strut weld as well, which has pushed the entire front of the sparkchamber down, which is why I'm surprised his air filters are still working."**

The three mechs looked at each other in shock and horror, realizing that the physical damage was more than they had expected it to be. When they turned to Ratchet, they could tell just by looking at him that he was far from done listing what was wrong with the sparkling, causing each of their sparks to drop.

 **"From what I can tell, he is also malnourished. I don't know what they were feeding him, but it definitely wasn't Sparkling Grade considering it's his malnourishment that helped allow the Meshrust to form in the first place,"** Ratchet continued, glaring at the monitor. **"Thus far there isn't anything else from what I can tell. I can create a cast that will realign his hydraulic piston and, from what I can tell, there isn't a reason that he cannot move on his own even with the cast. There are no cracks or severe dents- it was merely knocked out of alignment. His servo hydraulic needs no special attention. I will, however, have to prescribe three separate Medical Grades for the sparkling. One will aid in ensureing his spark chamber realigns and the dent in the strut weld fixes itself. I cannot do anything without risking more damage there. The second Medical Grade is for the pain and the third is the one he absolutely _cannot_ skip taking even _once_. The Meshrust is the most immediate threat at the moment."**

 **"Does he have enough nanites to repair the damage to his sparkchamber?"** Megatronus asked, frowning a bit. **"He is, after all, a glitched and premature sparkling."**

 **"Yes. From what the scans indicate, his frame has already set to working on fixing itself,"** Ratchet replied as moved to one of his storage subspace cabinets, reaching into it. **"Now, before we administer the first of his medications, I need to mix up the right formula. To ensure he does not miss out on any of it, I will be mixing it in with his Sparkling Grade, which will likely make it unnoticeable. Once that is done and he has been fueled, I will write up a datapad so that you have all the information you need."**

The three mechs nodded as they watched Ratchet take out a sparkling cube, then as he went to a back room to get the right types of Medical Grade and some Sparkling Grade. Soundwave moved over to where Laofeach lay, gently picking up the sparkling and doing what he could to wake the sparkling.

When Ratchet returned, Soundwave was handed the cube to fuel the sparkling. Sadly, the semi-aware Laofeach was struggling against Soundwave. The poor little mechling must be so confused, which no one could blame him for. After a while, Laofeach was handed over to Megatronus, who tried to speak soothingly to the small sparkling. Sadly, this only caused Laofeach to freak out even more. After thirty klicks of trying to get the stubborn sparkling to calm down and take the energon, he was passed off to Orion.

Ratchet, Megatronus, and Soundwave stared as, when Orion carefully cradled Laofeach against his chestplates, the sparkling immediately began to calm down. Megatronus and Soundwave had held the sparkling differently, but they hadn't thought that would be something that was pretty important. They watched as Orion managed to coax a tiring Laofeach into drinking the mixed Sparkling Grade. When the sparkling finished it off, he quickly conked out.

 **"Ratchet, how often does he need to take that mixture?"** Orion asked his friend.

 **"Not too often. I suggest he take the mixture once in the early cycles without the painkiller and then once just before he recharges with the painkiller,"** Ratchet replied, typing up everything they needed onto a datapad. **"Alright, here's the data you'll need. Remember- he needs that mixture _every solar cycle_. He absolutely _cannot_ skip it if you want him to recover."**

 **"We understand. Thank you Ratchet. Perhaps once the Meshrust has cleared up and he is a bit stronger, he and Knockout can play together,"** Orion replied, smiling as he accepted the datapad.

 **"I'm sure my rambunctious sparkling would love that,"** Ratchet said, before sighing. **"Are you three sure your up to this? Do you even have a designation to call the mechling by?"**

 **"When we are together, his designation is Laofeach. When we are apart, we all have individual names for him. My designation for him is Eskiminzinyang,"** Megatronus responded calmly, though his tone suggested that he didn't appreciate Ratchet's question.

 **"I will call him Conchobar when he is with me,"** Soundwave told Ratchet.

 **"I chose the designation Athelonsokar,"** Optimus said.

 **"How will he know to respond to those names? You're likely to confuse the poor thing!"** Ratchet fretted, glaring at them. **"Can you not decide on a single name to use at all times?"**

 **"No, we cannot. Besides, I don't think it would be too hard for him to understand and respond to each name,"** Orion replied, looking down at the sleeping sparkling. **"I'm not sure why, but I have a feeling that he will be able to understand that we each have different names for him."**

Ratchet shook his head, but did not argue. The three mechs bid the medic and his son farewell, heading back to Megatronus' apartment. Orion would be gathering his stuff before heading to Iacon with the mechling, the three discussing a possible sparkling sitter since they knew that they couldn't leave him unattended. Orion was keeping the sparkling hidden in his sparkling chamber this time around. Megatronus promised to contact a trustworthy Cybertronian to sparkling sit on the days all of them were overly busy.

When Orion finally returned home, he was glad that he had the day off. He began to set up a little area on his desk for the sparkling, which would be temporary. He was amazed that the little thing was small enough to have a little sleeping area on the desk. It just made him worry all the more for the poor sparkling. He laid down thermal mesh, which he lay the sparkling on, before covering the sparkling with another thermal mesh. He had put it at the very center of his desk so the sparkling couldn't get hurt. He then went and placed the datapad about the sparkling's medicine and the medicine itself down on a shelf of it's own.

The mech then sat down at his computer near the desk with the sparkling and glanced over. He smiled softly before turning to the task at hand. If he could finish the next few cycles' work then, he would have those same cycles off, allowing him to focus on the sparkling. Before he officially got the work, he turned to look at the sparkling one more time, this time speaking softly.

 **"Don't worry, Athelonsokar,"** he said softly. **"You're safe here. I promise that I will always protect you from now on, little one."**

* * *

 **And that's it for Chapter Six! Sorry if it seems a little rushed or off at the end there. I couldn't figure out how to make it smoother and just wanted to get this chapter done with. I will _try_ , key word being _try_ , to get Chapter Seven up by, not this Sunday, but the Sunday after. Have a good day everyone!**

 **EDIT**

 **TERMS**

 **Meshrust: A type of infection. Jack's infected injuries are making him sick and that is why Ratchet is so adamant about him taking the Meshrust Medical Grade without skipping it once- infections can kill one eventually if it is bad enough.**

 **Misaligned Lower Hydraulic Piston: Sprained ankle.**

 **Dented Servo: Think of a bone with a few indents.**

 **Cracked Sparkchamber Beams: Cracked Ribs**

 **Sparkchamber Strut Weld: Sternum, I think it's called. It's the bone in the middle of your chest that fuses your ribs together.**

 **Something I would like to address as well from the reviews I got for this chapter. This is an AU- Alternate Universe. I'm pretty sure that I have established that. I would also like to point out that Cybertronians look differently from pre-war to post-war. Ratchet does NOT look exactly same as in the show- I will establish better his pre-war looks next chapter. As for Knockout being his sparkling, recall that the war starts while Knockout is very young. He is still a toddler. Therefore, does he get separated from Ratchet while young? YES. His carrier chooses to stay with the Decepticons and keeps Knockout with him. Due to this early separation, it is why Ratchet is as grumpy as he is later since he's not that grumpy now and why he and Knockout wouldn't recognize each other.**

 **I would also like to establish that NOWHERE in TFP is it established, other than being SAID, that Energon is toxic to humans. It makes even less sense to assume Dark Energon is truly toxic. The plasma form is meant to be a weapon, so of course that would adversely affect Raf. That and there was too much. A small, liquefied dose of Dark Energon would most-likely not actually be harmful, especially if filtered correctly, to a human. There, otherwise, is no proof that Energon is toxic to humans. Recall that Ratchet doesn't even know anything about the human anatomy upon arriving to Earth and does not bother to learn until Raf if hurt. Never once is it ever tested on a human to see the effects of Energon. Claiming it's toxic is actually an assumption and precaution on Ratchet's part. Also, recall that Jack looks and appears to be made up of the same thing as a sparkling. Thus, Sparkling Grade Energon, made specifically for the extremely delicate bodies of the sparklings, would not hurt him. Yes, the energon will introduce nanites into his system- I will show the side effects of that at a later date. Also, again note that this is AU and _does not_ follow the cannon in a strict way.**

 **ALSO, note that Jack, to them, closely resembles a sparkling physically. That does not just apply outwardly- his inner structure is very similar to a sparkling's. Recall that they also think Jack is a deformed one, so they do not think anything off the differences they do spot. It is just a part of the deformity to them. And no, it's not that they don't understand temperature. It's been established in TFP that they CAN feel the cold and heat, note that in the episode _"Scrapheap"_ they suffer from the cold. Not just because it's damaging their systems, but they also show physical actions to show that they are, in deed, feeling the coldness there. And Jack IS sick. In THIS UNIVERSE, Sparklings and humans have a similar standard temperature they need to be at, sparkling's just need it to be slightly higher than a human's, in fact. No, Jack has a temperature closer to a 100.6 degrees F.**

 **Also, Cybertronians have sensors in their hands and on their frames that they can adjust so that they can stand higher or cooler temperatures better. Due to having sparklings, Soundwave naturally has these sensors set to a more standard sensitivity so that he knows when his sparklings are getting sick. Orion is considered one who would be a natural carrier and thus has them always set to that standard. The only one who would have problems with feeling the correct Temperature is Megatronus, who is not used to being around sparklings a whole lot. Recall that Ratchet is a medic and thus knows what he is doing, even if he doesn't understand that he's not looking at a sparkling.**

 **Figured I would clear all this up here. Some of this will be repeated when I directly answer the reviews tomorrow.**


	7. The First Day(ish)

**I edited the last Chapter so that, at the end, the English versions of his established illnesses are written down. Also, if you want my entire explanation for certain things, go read that update. I will address some of it when replying to reviews, but not all of it. You want a full explanation/rant? Go check the updated A/N at the bottom of the last chapter. I am NOT in the mood to repeat myself.**

 **Warnings: cussing, Jack-centric, violence, PTSD, traumatic experiences, recovery from trauma, family, angst, hurt/comfort, Jack may be OOC**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Executioner/Destructor and the plot of this story, which was inspired by Cyber Rogue's _Timeframe_ and Foxbear's _Deja Vu_ (at least, I believe _Deja Vu_ was written by Foxbear- I could be wrong). Transformers, Jack, and all other characters belong to _Hasbro Studios_. Sharpbite is merely a pre-war name for the Arachnacon.**

 **Note: Apologies for how late this chapter was. I was slammed with a huge amount of Writer's Block, which was rather debilitating.**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **Plato: I'm glad to see that you do not think it was rushed at the end. Also, I would like to point out that Jack sounds like he is either squeaking or talking in baby babble to them. He knows only vaguely how to pronounce "Avikirush", so there is no reason they would be surprised by his chatter except for the fact he's supposedly at an age that should be too young to start the attempts. But, I would like to note that Cybertronians, while they develop slower, even the sparklings at a few orns, or months, old would be a lot smarter than a human adult in a lot of things. Recall that they live for a very, very long time. Also, it is not uncommon for some sparklings to learn to walk at the age of 2 orns.**_

 _ **MadnessJones: Refer to the edit of the A/N on my last chapter for my response to your nitpicks. I do not feel like repeating them. I am glad you like this story. I'm glad you think his caste makes sense. But, I would like to remind you that this is an AU as well, meaning Alternate Universe. That means I do NOT have to stick to cannon.**_

 _ **Master Shorty 11: You are the third reviewer to this chapter, so no you are not late. Glad that you're liking the story so far!**_

 _ **Cyber Rogue: I'm very happy you're liking how this story is going! And yes, I thought it would be a good twist. That and it makes sense in my mind.**_

 _ **Dimensional Phaser: As I keep repeating, there is NO PROOF that Energon is toxic to humans, especially if Ratchet has no knowledge on human biology. Thus, claiming it's toxic is a precaution.**_

 _ **HufflepuffKat: I'm so happy you enjoyed the last chapter!**_

 _ **Guest: Lol. I'm not going to give away**_ **everything _, you know! Much of that is to be saved for my planned sequel!_**

 ** _Hz: Glad to see that I have amused you. Here is the chapter, sorry it was late._**

 ** _Whovianeverlark17: I'm glad you enjoy the story! Sorry that this is on chapter 7 and not Chapter 2, but you were a little late to the party._**

* * *

The first thing Jack was aware of when he awoke was that he didn't feel any pain, which was odd. His eyes were still closed, as he still felt somewhat sleepy. There was no noise in the room, making him curious. In the glass box-cage, there had always been the faintest drone of _something_ in the background. Yet here, there was absolute silence. This made the boy nervous as he slowly began to open his eyes. What greeted him surprised him greatly, as he was not in any form of box and there was no one around. He looked in what reminded him of an office, as there was shelves of what looked like super-sized tablets and another desk with what he was sure was a computer on it. The room was otherwise bare besides a window and two chairs, one at the desk he was lying on (he was sure it was a desk, anyways) and one at the other desk.

The next thing that Jack was aware of was how warm and comfortable he was, something smooth and soft laid over him. It wasn't a blanket, as it didn't feel like it was fuzzy or made out of any kind of fabric. He shifted to look, discovering some kind of metal cloth-like thing was laid over him and there was on under him. It was extremely light and reminded him of a blanket, though he had no clue how metal could mimic a cloth. It was that silvery color that metal had a tendency to be, so he decided that he probably wasn't still dreaming. Even if it felt weird that he wasn't in pain.

Jack slowly pushed the make-shift blanket off of him, surprised when it only faintly made the sound of metal brushing metal. He then slowly stood up, leaning on his right leg unconsciously. He glanced down at himself before blinking in shock. Around his leg was what appeared to be a cast of some sort, making him recall that his left ankle had been feeling funny for a little bit. He shook his head, now on alert. He knew that Destructor wouldn't go this far for him and he couldn't seem to remember-

Soundwave. The memory came swiftly and spiked his adrenaline, his eyes widening as fear filled his entire being. He recalled being picked up by Spidermother, taken to the future Decepticon. No, he didn't know what Soundwave was like now and knew that he was probably safe but he couldn't stop the fear. He remembered the first time he had encountered Soundwave, remembered the terror when the axe was suspended above them for a moment.

Grey-blue eyes snapped so they were searching the room for any signs of Soundwave. Anything to indicate the mech had been anywhere around there. So far, there was nothing. Not wanting to take any chances, Jack turned back to the weird mesh-blanket-thing (he wasn't sure what to call it). He wondered if he could use it for what he was planning, but knew he had to try. Bending down to grab it, Jack grunted in pain from his ribs, making him pause briefly to grapple with the pain. After that moment, he grabbed the mesh and began to work it into what he needed. He wasn't sure how to exactly do what he needed, but he knew he had to try and get optimal length.

Jack wasn't sure for how long he was working on turning the "blanket" into more of a "rope", but when he was finally done he knew that he couldn't have done much better. His arms hurt from all the work and it was starting to hurt when he moved. He knew that whatever pain medicine that he had been injected with at some point had finally wore off fully. He swallowed thickly as he ambled over to the edge of the desk, which was around six yards from where he had been lying. He tried to figure out how to secure the "blanket rope", frowning as he realized he might not be able to get down and away.

After some twenty minutes or so of trying to figure it out, he groaned and realized that he didn't have any choice. He limped back to the blanket-rope, grumbling to himself because of the pain he was in again, he undid the work he did earlier. Luckily, it went faster even though it hurt to do. Limping back towards the edge of the desk, he pushed the blanket mesh over the side, watching it land in a heap on the seat of the chair. He was lucky there was a chair at all. He took a moment to compose himself before noticing that the chair was close enough he could use it to try and lower himself as much as possible before the droop. _Miko would never let me live this down,_ Jack thought as he went to start. He noticed that small alcove usually reserved for storing random things or where a keyboard usually went on the desk and first lowered himself into it. It was easier since it wasn't a far drop. However, he winced heavily when he landed on his wrapped leg. He had to sit down and carefully message the wrapping around his food to make it feel somewhat better.

Jack wasn't sure how long it was before he was alright enough to continue on. He sat on the edge of the desk's alcove, bracing his feet against the chair and his back against the edge. _It's alright, Jack,_ he assured himself. _A fat man and a talking Llama did this in that one movie over a much larger drop._ Of course, his attempt at cheering himself up failed epically. _Mom would kill me if she knew what I was doing,_ Jack thought as he slowly began to make his way down. When he knew he was as far down as he dared, Jack took a deep breathe in an attempt to clam his racing heart. _It's fine... It's fine... It's just like that ride The Sling Shot that Miko forced you to go on,_ Jack told himself before letting himself drop.

Jack cried out when he hit the blanket-mesh, the landing heavily jostling his injuries. Jack lay there in pain, not caring how much time was being wasted as he shivered in pain. He was forced to sit there, waiting for the pain to fade. Jack wasn't sure how long it was before the pain faded to a dull throb, allowing him to stand up. He peaked over the edge and was glad to see that there was a leg for him to slide down. He carefully lowered himself over the edge and slid down it like a fire pole. He landed on the ground much gentler than he had on the chair itself, which caused less pain.

Jack looked around himself from where he was, quickly taking in the room around him. He spotted the door, clear on the other side of the room. There appeared to be a crack under the door and, given the scale of everything in the room, he hoped that it would be big enough for him to slip under. He took off towards it, though limping as he did. The fast pace sent jabs of pain through him, but it didn't deter him. He didn't even pause long enough to think about the fact that he was doing something Miko would absolutely _fangirl_ over getting the chance to do.

Jack was maybe three-fourths of the way to the door when he was brought to halt as it opened. He froze up and stared in fear as a mech, who was mainly silver with red and blue accents, came through the door. Jack noticed he looked vaguely like Optimus, but there were too many differences for it to be pre-war Optimus, so he dismissed the thought. He turned and attempted to run for cover, only to be scooped up by the mech, getting a squeak out of him from surprise as he was suddenly plucked from the ground and placed on his back, cradled in the mech's arms like an infant.

 **"** **Quid agitis ascendemus? Tu ut requiescerent adhuc** ," the mech told Jack, tone scolding despite Jack's lack of understanding.

The look he gave Jack shortly after, however, shocked the boy. Jack knew that look all too well, the look that Jack got from Optimus after the whole illegal racing fiasco. But, it couldn't be, could it? Suddenly, though, the physical similarities made sense. This was Optimus before he was the Optimus Jack knew. Some of the differences didn't make sense, but he could see how the two were the same now. This caused Jack to relax and sigh in relief. He was safe.

* * *

Orion Pax had been shocked to find Laofeach on the floor a mere four yards from the door. He had come to see if the sparkling was waking yet so he could give the sparkling his second refueling and next dose of medical grade. He had expected for Laofeach to not only be up and about, but on the floor and so close to the door. When he saw the sparkling about to bolt, he swiftly and carefully scooped the sparkling up.

 **"What are you doing up? You should be resting still,"** Orion scolded lightly as he approached the desk the sparkling had been on.

Looking up, the mech noticed that the thermal blanket provided for Laofeach was now on the seat of the chair. Orion blinked and quickly realized that Laofeach had to be much older than originally assumed, as a two orn old sparkling wouldn't be developed enough to come up with a way to get down. However, Laofeach was much to small to be any older than two orns and this level of intelligence suggested him being closer to a few vorns old. This was very concerning, as Laofeach shouldn't be online if he was two or three vorns and this small. _Something I should probably bring up to Megatronus and Soundwave,_ he thought as he grabbed the thermal blanket.

Placing the blanket on the desk again, he folded it up while making a mental note to invest in a Play Cradle for Laofeach so he couldn't try to run away again. He could get hurt if left unattended while roaming around. He couldn't let anything happen to the sparkling, who had already been through so much already. The mech then looked down at Laofeach, who had suddenly calmed down and relaxed, confusing the mech a little bit. _Maybe he's already realized he's safe?_ Orion thought, but that, once more, brought into question how intelligent and old the sparkling was. Deciding to leave the thoughts for later, he turned his attention back to the sparkling.

 **"You're going to be a servoful, aren't you?"** Orion asked the mechling as he turned and began to walk towards the other room.

He made sure to close the door behind him as he left the room. He walked into the living area of the apartment where Soundwave and Megatron were waiting for him. He was unsurprised when Soundwave was suddenly over by him, taking Laofeach from him. What took them all by surprise was how much Laofeach began to freak out over it, a high-pitched yowl leaving the sparkling.

 **"What's wrong with him?"** Megatronus demanded.

 **"Nothing! I didn't move fast enough to irritate his injuries,"** Soundwave replied in confusion. **"He was fine with me when I first retrieved him, why the sudden change?"**

 **"He probably wasn't as aware then, given the state he was in when you brought him to us,"** Orion pointed out. **"You two try and calm him while I get him some energon and his medical grade. It's also possible he is just in need of his fuel."**

The other two nodded as Orion left the room to get the energon and medical grade. Megatronus and Soundwave looked at each other in confusion as this caused Laofeach to throw even more of a fit. They looked down at the sparkling, Soundwave carefully trying to get the sparkling onto his back so the mech could rock him. He knew from experience that even hungry sparklings would calm down when being rocked. At least, they would enough to not be yowling their little heads off.

This seemed to only make Laofeach fussier as they tried to calm down the sparkling. Finally, Megatronus took Laofeach from Soundwave. The mech put Laofeach on his back and held him there for a moment.

 **"Enough, Eskiminzinyang,"** he said firmly. **"You are safe. You will no longer be harmed. You are _safe_."**

Despite the firmness of the tone, it was soft and calming. For a moment, Laofeach seemed to freeze before slowly relaxing. As if he was realizing that he was, indeed safe, he slowly calmed down. Megatronus then slowly handed the sparkling back to Soundwave, just to be sure that he was clam now. Laofeach remained quiet, though he still seemed somewhat scared or apprehensive.

 **"I wonder what Executioner did to him to make him so afraid,"** Soundwave murmured. **"This isn't just from being forced to fight."**

 **"He was probably isolated, maybe even abused by Executioner in some way,"** Megatronus replied. **"I don't think we should assume he will be calm around strangers. We may have managed to calm him down around us, but there is no guarantee he'll be as easy to calm down around others."**

 **"What about the sparkling-sitter we were discussing?"**

 **"If she was around him for a while, it's possible he'll be calm around her,"** Megatronus said. **"At least we know that Sharpbite wont do anything to harm him. She has always been a loyal follower of The Resistance and I have seen her enough times to know that she will do anything to help us."**

 **"Yes, that does go in Sharpbite's favor,"** Soundwave agreed, also knowing this. **"I only hope that he will remember that she helped him, given his condition when she rescued him."**

Megatronus nodded in agreement with this, turning his optics back down to the quiet Laofeach. He frowned briefly before remembering what he had picked up earlier before arriving at Orion's. He reached into one of his subspace pockets and pulled out a rattle, one of those bizarre little noise makers that entertained sparklings a lot. He lightly shook it, gaining the attention of Laofeach. While the toy was nearly as big as the sparkling, Megatron figured the mechling should be able to play with it just fine. He placed it with the sparkling, who didn't immediately move to grab it. The mechling seemed to study the toy, to see as if looking for some form a trap. _A smart sparkling,_ Megatronus noted. _Too smart for a two-orn-old. He shows the intelligence of a well developing sparkling nearing a hundred vorns._ That was troubling.

 **"Something troubling you, Tronus?"**

Megatronus looked over to see Orion walking towards them with a sparkling cube of energon. It was a blue-green mixture due to the fact it was mixed with the medical grade the sparkling needed.

 **"Is there anything you've noticed about the sparkling, Orion?"** Megatronus inquired.

Orion paused for a moment before nodding. He handed the sparkling cube to Soundwave so he could fuel the sparkling while the two mechs spoke.

 **"Yes. When I went to see if he was online yet, I found him only a few yards from the door. He used his thermal blanket to get from the desk to the seat of my chair and then slid down the leg of the chair, it seems,"** Orion explained. **"This worries me. At only two orns, he should only barely be able to take care of him, but the more I think about it... Either he's hyper intelligent or-"**

 **"He's much older than he appears,"** Megatronus finished, nodding. **"I estimate, if he is much older, that he's closer to end of his first frame. Sparklings are usually this intelligent by then, can usually speak by the end of their second frame, third frame is when they start to be able to learn more complex things, and so on. So his intelligence would make sense if he was between a hundred and a hundred and thirty vorns."**

 **"The only problem with that is the fact that he's much too small. His size should have killed him if he really is that old,"** Orion pointed out with worry.

 **"Well, he is heavily deformed, Orion. It's possible he has a growth stunt,** **"** Megatronus reasoned.

Orion nodded in agreement before noticing that Soundwave was struggling to get Laofeach to fuel, the sparkling putting up a pretty big fuss over taking his energon. Orion sighed and took both the sparkling and the energon from Soundwave.

 **"You need your energon, Little One,"** Orion said softly to the sparkling, who seemed mildly confused and annoyed.

* * *

Jack didn't understand why these three were trying to get him to drink something that was toxic to his race. Surely that had noticed he was organic by now, right? Clearly not as Optimus tried to convince him to drink the energon next. He refused, turning his head away from the strange container, which was clearly their version of a sparkling bottle. His cheeks were also stained red as he was also refusing because it was embarrassing. He was a teenager for crying out loud, not a baby!

 **"Bibe tuum alimento, Laofeach,"** Optimus told him firmly, and Jack didn't need to understand to guess that Optimus was telling him to cooperate.

He couldn't, however, as he remembered what Ratchet said about it being highly toxic to humans. So he continued to refuse it like he had done with Soundwave.

 **"Orion, da mihi mechling,"** Megatron demanded, automatically making Jack tense up.

Jack watched apprehensively as he was handed to Megatron along with the strangely colored energon. He watched Megatron, who looked at him with surprisingly soft blue optics that made Jack relax. Megatron was a bit gruff outwardly, but Jack realized that it was like with Ratchet right now. Outwardly hostile, but inwardly a big softie. Somehow, that seemed very disturbing but Jack didn't get the chance to ponder it. There was a suddenly tickle feeling on his side that caused an involuntary laugh to leave him. It took him a moment to realize that Megatron had brushed his side on purpose, but he didn't react fast enough.

Before he could close his mouth, the open part of the cube was placed to his lips and the cool liquid had begun to pour into his mouth. The most shocking thing about the cold liquid was the fact that it tasted just like rock candy had been dipped in cool, honey sweetened milk. Not a combination he would think of as delicious, but he practically melted at the taste. Before he could stop himself, he was gripping on to the sides of the small (to a Cybertronian) cub and begun to drink rather greedily. Not only did it taste good, but it awoke his hunger and thirst, somehow satisfying both.

Jack couldn't help but close his eyes as the taste and feeling of the energon in his mouth. He fully relaxed as he drank deeply of the liquid, realizing the energon probably looked as it did because there was some type of medicine mixed in. This was because the pain he had been feeling before was fading out into nothingness, causing him to relax even further. Jack had expected his mouth to be on fire, but it wasn't, making him wonder why energon had burned him before. Maybe it was only certain types of energon that was dangerous to him?

When Jack finally finished off the energon and the cube was taken away from him, he felt some disappointment from it. Jack then blinked, realizing he didn't feel embarrassed and instead had enjoyed the energon immensely. Jack didn't want to admit it, but being fed like that hadn't been too bad. It reminded him of before his father started his "training," back when his parents had treated him his own age. This gave Jack the urge to give in and act like the infant they thought he was, but he couldn't. He needed to find a way to communicate with them so that he could go home, something he definitely needed to do. Jack knew only one word in their language, he just hoped that he could pronounce it right and that they way he said it would convey he wanted to communicate with them.

 **"A... Akvirsh,"** he attempted, still struggling with the word, but not like when he had been denied water.

Jack felt pleased at his attempt, but as he watched the faces of all three, he realized he probably should have waited to learn better words. They were looking at him as if he had just swore, making him feel ashamed. The three chatted for a moment, clearly upset about the word he had attempted to say. Then Optimus turned to him with a firm, stern expression. He pointed right at Jack before speaking.

 **"Laofeach,"** the mech said, voice patient. **"Laofeach."**

Jack blinked, trying to figure out if that was some type of reprimand before realizing he had heard them use the word a few times before when they were talking.

 **"Laofeach."**

This time, it had been Soundwave who spoke and Megatron repeated the word as well. Jack then realized that it was their name for him. He recalled Megatron using a very long word the first time he spoke to Jack. That must have been his name for Jack and "Laofeach" was their joint-name for him. Jack licked his drying lips before deciding that he should probably attempt to repeat the name to show he understood.

 **"L-Lao-Laofe-Laofeach,"** Jack repeated, going much slower and sounding the word out much carefully.

Jack watched as smiles slowly came to the faces around him and he repeated the word again, this time saying it much smoother and easier. He felt a warmth in his chest at the smiles he was getting from saying that one word and, before his mind could catch up, he repeated it a few more times like a toddler finally learning their first real word. It was a good feeling, especially since he knew that he had made them happy. It was then that Soundwave tried another word, making Jack pause.

 **"Conchobhar,"** Soundwave said to Jack.

Jack took a moment before he attempted to repeat the name back to Soundwave. It took him a bit longer to get this name down since it was a bit trickier in pronunciation and was a longer word. After he finally got that name down (it took him nearly fifteen to twenty minutes), he attempted to pronounce Optimus' name for him, which was Athelonsokar. That took another thirty to forty minutes to get down. By this time, Jack's throat was hurting slightly from trying to pronounce the Cybertronian words that were his new names. They seemed to realize this and gave him some time to himself, making Jack turn his attention to the rattle-like object.

The ball part of it was bigger than his head, kind of like one of those huge balloon-like bouncy balls kept in places like Target (not exercise balls, the lighter ones that kids love to play with). It was about as long as a walking cane, not counting that ball part, and the handle bit was as thick as his arm. Curious on how heave it was, Jack reached for it and it was handed to him. He blinked at the weight of it- it was probably twenty to thirty pounds. Much lighter than he expected, but still something he couldn't hold up for too long. He messed with it for a few minutes before putting it down again. He noticed Megatron watching him about then and raised it again. This went on for a few minutes, with Megatron pausing to look at him when he stopped playing with it. Eventually, Jack couldn't lift it again since his arms were tired and Optimus took it from him to put away. Jack was very grateful for that.

After that, they began the process of teaching him Megatron's name for him. The name Eskiminzinyang was the hardest of all four names to pronounce and took Jack close to an hour and a half to finally get the name down. During the entire thing, he didn't notice the three Cybertronians glance at each other with a peculiar gaze. He just knew that he was exhausted when they had finally finished. He never knew that learning a new language to take so much out of someone, but his sore throat would attest to just how hard it was to learn a new language. It made Jack wonder how Miko _ever_ learned how to speak English without an accent of some sort.

* * *

 **"He's tired,"** Soundwave noted softly, causing the other two to look down at the mechling.

Laofeach had done very well with learning his new names, having quickly understood that the name that had been used for him before was one that wasn't acceptable. However, the quickness of his learning and ease in getting the names down bumped up their ages estimate once again to middle of his second frame. This made the three of them nervous and decide to just pass him off as a two orn old. Hopefully no one else would notice he acted much older than that, but it was still quite nerve wracking.

 **"He is,"** Megatronus agreed.

Soundwave took the mechling and the three went back into the office that would soon be transformed into a nursery for the mechling. Soundwave had no matches scheduled for the next day, but Megatronus and Orion both had a busy day. That meant that Soundwave would take care of the sparkling for the day. He planned to bring over Lazerbeak and Ravage for the mechling to play with. If their estimate on his age was anywhere close to being right this time, then it should be fine for him to play with the two sparklings as long as they weren't too rough with their new brother.

 **"When will you arrive here tomorrow, Soundwave?"** Orion asked as made sure the thermal blanket was positioned properly for the mechling.

 **"In the early hours of the morning,"** Soundwave replied. **"Hopefully before he is awake seeing as we apparently have a little escape artist on our hands."**

Orion nodded and watched as Soundwave laid the mechling down, who immediately got up stubbornly. This made the three sigh and shake their helms. It seemed that Laofeach was intent on being a stubborn little scraplet about more than taking his fuel. It was slightly irritating to the mechs, but they accepted that the sparkling wasn't used to what home life was like.

Each mech took ten klicks to attempt to convince the sparkling to lay down and rest. After that, Orion finally sighed and picked up both the thermal blanket and the mechling, wrapping the stubborn sparkling in the thermal blanket. He chuckled at the look on Laofeach's face.

 **"If you didn't want to be swaddled, you should have just laid down and rested, little one,"** Orion told the sparkling as he slowly began to rock the sparkling.

The rocking started out barely noticeable and slow, slowly working up until it was a normal rocking motion. It took barely five klicks of rocking for Laofeach to finally succumb to recharge.

 **"Little scraplet,"** Megatronus muttered.

 **"He may be stubborn,"** Orion said softly as he lay the mechling down on the desk again. **"But he is _our_ stubborn mechling."**

Neither mech disagreed with Orion.

* * *

 **Translations**

 **Bibe tuum alimento, Laofeach - Drink your fuel, Laofeach**

 **Orion, da mihi mechling - Orion, give me the mechling**

 **FINALLY DONE! *practically crying with happiness* I'm so sorry that this took so long! Please consider this a late Christmas present, my readers! I'm so sorry! Now, before we go, I figured I'd once again mention that I have a poll up. I wrote myself into a corner with the _Imaginations the Limit_ series and I know a lot of people who wanted a sequel. The poll is asking if I should rewrite the story so that I can attempt to continue that series. But, if I _do_ rewrite it, don't expect it to be worked on until after I finish _Unconventional Way to Heal_ and _The Twin_.**


	8. Contemplation

**Months... It's been _months_ and I have no excuse... I'm so, so sorry everyone. I didn't mean to take so long to write this chapter, I really didn't. I don't have any excuses, I really don't. *sighs* Well, on the bright side, I should have this out soon. Hopefully today. Also, if any of you reading this ever gave my first completed story, _Imaginations the Limit_ , a chance, please vote on my poll about weather or not I should rewrite the story.**

 **Also, I made a mistake. I said in an earlier chapter that Ravage is entering his second frame at 500 vorns, but he's actually in the middle of his Third Frame. Lazerbeak, on the other hand, is a second frame sparkling.**

 **Reviews:**

 _ **Master Shorty 11: You were the first to review this time around. Glad that you found that particular phrase amusing. Hope 2018 will be good to you.**_

 _ **Steelcode: *blushes* I swear that you only say things like that to make me blush. Either way, I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter.**_

 _ **Plato/Sparkling Hobbit Hoe of M. E: *grins* That was kind of the point.**_

 _ **Cyber Rogue: I'm glad you think it was worth the wait.**_

 _ **TBNRGirl: Glad that you think so! *smiles***_

 _ **marie p (guest): I'll address the easiest part first. No, I haven't forgotten about the sparkling chambers, but there currently isn't a "need" for them. Not only that, but these mechs wouldn't automatically think of using them. Soundwave is used to leaving his creations back home or they use a cassette chamber, so he has rarely used his. Not only that, but Megatronus and Orion have never raised a sparkling before, so it wouldn't be their first thought. I would also like to point out that five days isn't long, at least not long enough for what you're suggesting. Jack is currently sixteen, as it hasn't been a full year with the Autobots yet. I don't know when his birthday is, but I like to think that he's with them at least half a year before he becomes seventeen. The show was never good about following a timeline or paying attention to ages, so for the purposes of this story, Jack is sixteen. Yes, Jack was suddenly thrust into a survive-or-die situation, but it also wasn't for a very long time, definitely not long enough for a two-orn-old (two month old) sparkling to show the intelligence of a much older sparkling. The change was too rapid and the timeframe much too short for such things you're suggesting to have occurred. And if you're referring to before that, Sharpbite has evidence to show that he was picked up off the street almost as soon as he was put on the streets, again leaving too short a time for such an adjustment.**_

 _ **HufflepuffKat: *blushes* I-I doubt it's the "best" you've ever read. I'm sure that there is someone out there with better writing than I am that you've read.**_

 _ **Cometbright: Heh. Well, with what I know about the laws of time travel, then this was always going to happen. You'll see the significance of it eventually. I just need to decide if I'm going to put that into a sequel or if I'll just keep it to this story. *shrugs***_

 _ **Agent blue rose: Okay, so I'm going to be responding to all your reviews in this one. Yes, it probably is funny they think Jack is a sparkling, but it's also rather logical in my opinion. Since you're only saying names for the next two, I can't fully respond since I'm not sure the context around them. Jack will not turn into a literal sparkling, though. As for Ratchet... It's not that he's**_ **best _with kids, it's that he's the only one they can trust with Jack. They don't want the council to find out about Jack because they believe him to be "deformed" and the Council doesn't like "weak links". Anyways, I'm glad that you're liking the story so far._**

 ** _DeadlyNightshade97: I'm glad you like it, though I didn't mean to make you cry._**

 ** _pikachukite: Glad you like it! *grins*_**

 ** _Dimensional Phaser: I'll be replying to both your reviews here. Jack drinking energon_ will _have side effects, but I won't state them here. Also, I'll update when I'm able. These are harder to write than it seems._**

 ** _Zombie-aft-kicker: I'm so glad you like it! *grins happily*_**

* * *

When Orion found himself onlining in the middle of the lunarcycle, he didn't understand what had disturbed his recharge at first. At least, until he heard the whimpers and cries coming from the room just across the hall, where Athelonsokar was recharging on the desk. He frowned at the noises and shifted, getting up and ran through the possibilities of what could be wrong. There were two that were most possible, which would be that he was either having a lunar-terror about _The Ring of Pests_ or he was in need of refueling. Both were equally possible, so much so that he was willing to be it was both that was causing the poor mechling distress.

With this in processor, Orion made his way into the room where Athelonsokar was resting and found his spark twisting at the sight that greeted him. Athelonsokar was clearly awake, probably woken by a nightmare. The poor sparkling was clearly trapped in a flash back, thrashing as his blue optics were wide with fear and he wailed and cried. Unable to bare the sparkling's mental torment, Orion quickly scooped the sparkling up and cradled him. He clicked and chirped at the sparkling in a comforting coo, gently rocking back and forth the small sparkling.

As he did this, Orion was given the chance to take in Laofeach without interruption. He had _seen_ Laofeach, but he had never truly comprehended or taken in the sparkling. It was then he realized something that he was confused by. The dark dents were lighter and, running a finger over them as he continued to sooth the sparkling yielded that, not only did the mesh feel soft, but it didn't _feel_ like the sparkling was dented. This brought back the notion, the thought about the sparkling being techno-organic, something rare and unusual, but not impossible. This prompted him to scan the sparkling out of curiosity as he continued to sooth the mechling.

He wasn't techno-organic, but it did seem that he was made of something biomechanical, giving him an organic appearance. So the sparkling was _mimicking_ organics. _How bizarre,_ Orion couldn't help but think as he rocked and cooed at Athelonsokar, _Why would he be made of something biomechanical? What need is there for him to mimic something organic?_ Orion couldn't fathom it, but decided it didn't matter. A sparkling was a sparkling.

Orion's internal clock told him that it had been a breem when Athelonsokar had finally calmed down form his flashback, making the mech frown. He was angry at those who ran _The Ring of Pests_ for doing this to such an innocent little creature. He also felt sorrow, thinking of all that the mechling went through.

 **"Don't you worry, Athelonsokar,"** Orion murmured as he headed towards where he kept his energon stored.

Since Orion was an Archivist, that made his caste upper-middle class. This meant that he had the credits to afford an energon storage room, where he kept a number of different types of energon and their accessories needed to make a few different types. The only energon he couldn't afford was a number of high-grades and their accessories. He had the Iacon brand of high-grade, but not a whole lot of it and it was mainly for Megatronus, who was a bit of an addict when it came to high-grade, something he'd been attempting to wean the gladiator off of. He did, however, have a good amount of low-grade and medium-grade energon, along with some different kinds of flavoring metals. He also had a number of energon treats, goodies, and even a batch of rust-sticks. He wondered if he should invest in some sparkling energon treats for Athelonsokar. Maybe when the sparkling was better.

He went to where he kept the supplies for sparkling-grade and medical-grade, which he had reorganized and put together to make things easier. Since it was still during the lunarcycle, there was no need to make up Athelonsokar's medicine just yet. Instead, Orion began to process some low-grade into sparkling-grade and placed a sparkling-cube beneath the dispenser.

Once done with that, he leaned against the counter, smiling down at Laofeach and, once more, taking him in fully. Pale mesh a coloring he had never seen before, but he was certain was a shade of pink, and wearing something akin to what he had been found wearing. Ratchet had given it to them before they left and told them it was made from thermal-mesh. His original thermal-armor had been damaged beyond repair, so Ratchet had made the sparkling a new pair of thermal-armor. It didn't look like armor, but it was made mostly to keep the sparkling form freezing. They weren't sure where he had gotten the original pair or what the sparkling had been wearing, but the sparkling hadn't really noticed that he was in different armor than before.

What fascinated Orion most about the sparkling, however, was the ultra thin wires on the head of sparkling and the optics of the sparkling. The wires themselves were black and even softer than the sparkling's mesh, making Optimus certain that the wires had to be some form of helmet. That didn't make much sense, considering the sparkling had to be too young to be growing any of his armor. Unless, of course, the sparkling was a minicon or a pretender. It actually made a lot more sense than anything else did. Minicons were smaller than cassettes, which was what Soundwave's sparklings were, and so were pretenders. Out of the two, the sparkling's mimicry actually made a lot more sense if the sparkling was a pretender sparkling and it would make the idea of him being older than originally believed to make sense. Since he wasn't the age of being beyond sparkling babble yet, as Athelonsokar still babbled, he was probably still a first frame sparkling, likely at least half-way through his first frame. His size made more sense too, if he was minicon or pretender. If anything, he was a bit tall for his age if he was one.

 _I'll have to tell this to Soundwave and Megatronus,_ Orion thought as the energon dispenser beeped to show it was done and he began to fill the sparkling-cube. _I'm honestly surprised that Soundwave didn't think of it first, given that he's raising a pair of cassettes._

Once done filling the cube, he shut off the dispenser and turned to the sparkling he was cradling. Those grey-blue optics peered back at him intelligently, comprehendingly despite everything. The sparkling was _definitely_ a smart one, even if he couldn't speak it. His time out on the streets had probably stunted his speech capability, which wasn't all that surprising and, since he was most-likely a mid-first frame sparkling, he wouldn't have begun to learn until now anyways. His struggles to learn his own name showed he had a stunted capability, but not as stunted as he have been in learning to speak.

Orion then began the struggle that was attempting to get Athelonsokar to take his energon. He didn't understand _why_ the only time the sparkling resisted him was when he was trying to feed the sparkling so far, but it was a little irritating.

 **"Come one, little one,"** Orion said. **"You won't grow any bigger or stronger if you don't take your energon."**

Still, the sparkling refused to cooperate on the matter. In all honesty, it was this struggling that had kept Orion from attempting to adopt a sparkling or create a cold-frame one besides the fact that he often had to go to work, which meant leaving the sparkling for extended amounts of time. After a half-breem of struggling with getting the sparkling to cooperate, Orion finally got Athelonsokar to start drinking his energon. The sparkling was soaking it down rather quickly, a staple to just how hungry the sparkling was.

 **"Honestly,"** Orion sighed. **"If you hadn't resisted me in the first place and fussed, you would have been fed sooner."**

Once the sparkling had finished off the cube of energon, he placed the cube down, deciding to clean it later. He then took the sparkling back to the temporary room for the little one. This was when Athelonsokar began to fuss again, resisting Orion's attempt to put him down until Orion realized that the sparkling was likely afraid of having another lunar-terror and flashback. So, Orion decided that there would be no harm in having the sparkling sleep with him and took the thermal-blanket from the desk. He wrapped the sparkling in it again, getting fussy little squeaks from Athelonsokar.

Orion chuckled as he cradled the mechling close, taking him back to his room with him. There, Orion lay down with the sparkling, making sure to rest Athelonsokar over his spark.

 **"Recharge well, my little one,"** Orion murmured, tiredness creeping into his vocal print. **"I will see you when the sun rises."**

* * *

When Soundwave arrived at Orion's place, he wasn't sure how Ravage and Lazerbeak would react to the tiny little sparkling that he had adopted with Orion and Megatronus. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure how Conchobhar would react to his pair of new siblings - probably not all that well at first, but it would be a step in the right direction once they got him accustomed to the both of them. He just hoped that the sparkling would be a little more cooperative today than he had been before. Deciding to take the day as it would come, Soundwave knocked on the door precisely three times, as he always did.

 **"Ah! Soundwave!"** Orion greeted when he opened the door, looking quite pleased about something. **"Come in, come in!"**

Soundwave, as he stepped into the building, could not help but note that Orion's vocalizing processor was a few decibels lower than it normally was. He could only conclude that Conchobhar was still recharging, though he couldn't fathom why. Yes, it was still quite early in the cycle, but most sparklings would still be up and about by now. Considering the abnormality of it, Soundwave turned questioning lilac optics towards Orion, meeting the smaller mech's sky blue ones.

 **"Where is Laofeach?"** the mech inquired, his voice still at normal decibels.

 **"Still in recharge,"** Orion replied, gently touching his sparkling chamber. **"He awoke from a lunar-terror, likely about _that place_. He was also in need of fueling, so I gave him normal sparkling-grade. I don't know for how much longer he will remain in recharge."**

 **"I see,"** Soundwave acknowledged. **"So I shall need to give him his medical grade. Did he give you much trouble after wards? I mean, when you tried to put him back to recharge."**

Orion looked up from where he was now processing some low-grade for himself and Soundwave. The two had moved to the energon storage area, with Soundwave leaning against the doorway. Orion seemed to consider Soundwave's question for a moment, as if debating on how to properly answer it.

 **"I believe it was not just a lunar-terror,"** Orion finally said. **"I believe that Laofeach also had a flashback. He also refused to let me put him down, fussing when I tried. He went back into recharge easily when I returned to my berth with him."**

 **"So Laofeach is rather clingy after a lunar-terror,"** Soundwave mused. **"I will keep that in mind should I have him take a light stasis-charge*."**

Orion nodded before debating about approaching the subject he had thought about last night with just Soundwave. He decided that it was best, as Soundwave would know the most.

 **"Soundwave, remember when we were discussing the possibility of Laofeach being older than we originally thought?"** Orion asked. He continued when Soundwave nodded. **"I came up with an idea of why that could be. He appears rather organic in nature, yes? Well, you recall how small Minicons and Pretenders are when they start out?"**

 **"Of course,"** Soundwave agreed. **"In fact, Laofeach is small enough to be a Minicon sparkling- Oh."**

Soundwave realized what Orion was getting at and had to agree with the mech's line of thought. Instead of thinking of Laofeach as a normal sparkling, his intelligence and size coinciding suddenly made a lot more sense. In fact, it was the only way to logically explain away the strangeness of how smart Laofeach was. In fact, the more Soundwave thought of it, he realized that Ravage and Lazerbeak were roughly the size of Laofeach upon their framing. Cassettes were only just a bit bigger than most Minicons, in fact. Laofeach might even have been stunted in his growth.

 **"So it's entirely possible we're raising a Minicon?"** Orion asked.

 **"Yes,"** Soundwave replied, nodding. **"I'll have to do even more research in to them, especially since it doesn't seem like he was a cold-frame*."**

Orion nodded and handed a cube of low-grade energon to Soundwave.

 **"How do we know for certain, though?"** Orion asked.

 **"Do some research once you finish your work,"** Soundwave suggested, causing Orion to nod in thought. **"Should that not work, we could have Ratchet test his nanites to see what kind of sparkling he is."**

Orion nodded in agreement with his co-caretaker, a thoughtful look on his faceplates. He smiled softly when he felt a soft stirring from his chamber, which he had been monitoring carefully for when Laofeach would wake up. He opened his sparkling chamber and carefully pulled out the young mechling, who seemed to still be booting up his systems.

 **"Well, looks like it's time to make his medical,"** Soundwave said, smiling at the sparkling.

 **"I should also probably be on my way,"** Orion sighed before handing over Laofeach to Soundwave. **"I'll miss him while at work."**

 **"I'm sure he'll miss you as well,"** Soundwave responded as he grabbed his low-grade in his free hand. **"Don't forget your energon."**

Orion nodded and grabbed his before heading off. Soundwave turned to the energon processor and began to process some sparkling-grade energon for Conchobhar, which he would add the medical grade to. Since Conchobhar was just waking up for the day and he probably wouldn't move too much during the day, Soundwave knew he didn't need to add the pain medical. That and Ratchet had warned against it as well, which Soundwave believed was a little unnecessary to do.

 **"Well, Conchobhar, it's just me and your brothers for a while,"** he said to the sparkling with a smile. **"I'll let them out once you've had your energon."**

The sparkling, thankfully, didn't fuss when he gave him the energon. The sparkling did, however, look at him with uncertainty and wariness. Soundwave briefly wondered why the sparkling would be so wary of him, yet seemed perfectly content with Orion. He honestly couldn't really pinpoint a reason that would make sense beyond creators that should not have been creators, but he didn't want to dwell on that kind of thought. Besides, that didn't explain why the sparkling was clam around Orion.

 **"You really are going to be a handful, aren't you?"** Soundwave asked the sparkling.

Once Conchobhar was done feeding, Soundwave set aside the cube and took him out to the living area. He set the sparkling on the ground before lowering himself down onto the floor. He kept an eye on the sparkling, who had begun to limp around with a look of curiosity. Conchobhar would occasionally look over at Soundwave, as if expected the mech to either place his attention elsewhere or suddenly snatch him up again. _Paranoid little thing,_ Soundwave couldn't help but note. That made sense, given what the mechling had just been rescued from only two solar-cycles prior. Well, could it be counted as two solar-cycles if he technically retrieved the sparkling in the earliest hours of the rising sun yesterday?

Soundwave shook his helm to clear it, deciding not to dwell on it. He opened his cassette chamber, which was an armored compartment that also happened to hide his sparkchamber. He watched as his two sparklings came out and studied their size in comparison to Laofeach. He was pleased to see that they confirmed what he had suspected - Conchobhar could only be either a Pretender, Minicon, or Cassette. Cassettes were strictly cold-framed, so he could cross that off the list. He doubted that the sparkling was a Pretender - most Pretenders were much smaller than Conchobhar at the estimated age for the sparkling.

Ravage and Lazerbeak had been informed that they had a new sibling who was just a frame younger than Lazerbeak, but neither had expected their new brother to look the way Conchobhar did. Ravage was the first to approach the sparkling, whom he was noticeably bigger than. Not a whole lot, but enough for it to be rather noticeable. Lazerbeak was between the two in size and stayed closer to Soundwave, far more uncertain of their new brother. It seemed that Conchobhar was just as wary of his new siblings as Lazerbeak, backing up as Ravage kept trying to approach.

* * *

Jack had no idea what was going on right now and hated the fact that he still didn't understand the Cybertronian language. He desperately wanted to ask Soundwave why he had released the giant robo-cat and robo-bird. At least the latter creature was staying far away, but the same could not be said for the cat. He kept backing up, not sure what to do and slowly starting to panic with how it kept following him.

"What do you want?!" Jack finally cried out, darting past and over to Soundwave.

Soundwave hadn't harmed him so far, so he hoped the mech didn't mind being used as a hiding place. As he hid behind Soundwave, Jack heard an odd _click-grind-click_ sound that was loud and came from above. It took him a moment to realize that he was being _chuckled_ at by Soundwave, which caused him to bristle. He hated feeling like he was being made fun of and stomped his good foot like a child.

"You wouldn't like this either!" Jack accused. "Being thrust into a strange world surrounded by-for the most part-people you knew as enemies! Unable to communicate properly!"

Jack yelped when he was suddenly scooped up, albeit carefully. He found himself sitting on Soundwave's knee-joint and looked up at the mech in confusion, watching as he pulled-seemingly from nowhere-a ball. The ball was fairly large and, when set in Jack's lap, he discovered that it felt and resembled a toy ball for a dog to some degree. It was fairly large and Jack was confused by it. It felt like it weighed at least a few pounds, but Jack somehow didn't drop it when he was suddenly set on his feet again. He was confused and looked back up at Soundwave again, unsure what he was supposed to do. When Soundwave made a gesture in a direction beyond Jack, he looked and saw only the cat. He then glanced down at the ball.

 _Oh_.

He was supposed to play with the giant cat. Jack hesitated-the ball was far too big for him to safely throw, not to mention how heavy it was. He blinked, letting Soundwave take it from him again. He watched as the mech set it on the ground and sent it rolling towards the cat. _Oh, so that's what I'm supposed to do,_ Jack thought as the cat rolled it back towards Jack. The boy hesitated again before he pushed the ball, hoping to send it back towards the cat. It rolled, but stopped a little short. Jack felt his cheeks darken in embarrassment.

The cat-who Jack decided he was going to call 'Silver' simply because he had no other ideas-easily reached out and pushed it back towards Jack. Jack pushed it again, harder this time in hopes it would reach Silver completely. He was glad when it did and felt a strange sort of glee he'd never felt before. He didn't stop to question it, though, as he found that he actually enjoyed rolling the ball with Silver.

Jack wasn't quite sure for how long he played or when Raven-the robo-bird-joined the games, but he also didn't quite care. It was nice and fun, though, throughout the entire thing, he felt an odd buzzing in the back of his mind start up. It wasn't annoying or painful-if anything, it was pleasant. Like a soothing massage of some sort. It seemed to get stronger when ever Soundwave smiled, Silver puffed out his chest, or Raven gave that odd half-caw, half-clicking noise. He even found himself giggling or laughing like a child and he wasn't sure why.

Jack didn't stop to think about any of it until Soundwave collected the ball, said something that caused Silver and Raven to deflate, and picked him up. He was confused and looked up at Soundwave questioningly. His answer came when he was put down in a room he didn't recognize, but that held a number of items that he would associate with a carwash just by the way they looked alone. _Is this their shower room?_ he wondered.

Jack turned his attention to where Soundwave was, watching as he looked around for something. Jack watched as Soundwave eventually brought over what looked like a metal swimming pool to him-which he quickly realized was probably a bucket for whatever solutions they used to help clean or polish their armor. He watched as a clear substance was poured from what he was sure was a kind of shower into the bucket. Soundwave also added something else that made the bath bubble a bit, like soap.

Bath.

 _Oh_.

So he was going to get a bath. Okay, he could handle that. Jack began to pull off his clothes, not wanting them to get wet in any form. It was then he noticed that they were in perfect condition. _What...?_ he was confused, but decided that he could deal with that later. He realized he would have trouble getting his pants off, seeing as the cast went _over_ his pant leg. _Why am I not in pain?_ he wondered briefly, brows furrowing. He hadn't realized the lack of pain until now. Maybe it was because he hadn't been moving as much? But his arms were sore-then again, he'd been using them a good amount.

 _But I ran and didn't feel a hint of pain..._ Jack was confused, but didn't contemplate it as he was suddenly picked up again. He watched as Soundwave carefully peeled the cast off, as if it was merely thick bandaging around his leg. Once his leg was free, he rolled his ankle experimentally. He quickly sucked in a breath and fought off a wince. _Okay, so that cast is just super soft,_ he decided. He also hadn't been jostled a whole lot, so he supposed that his ribs shouldn't be hurting too much... He wasn't a doctor, so he couldn't actually be certain, though.

He carefully took off the last of his garments and let it drop onto the counter-like surface. He then found himself being placed in the make-shift bath and fought to not think about _who_ was giving him the bath. He allowed the mech to gently wash him, once more trying not to think too hard about what was happening. He didn't want to think about it, knowing he'd have a panic attack if he did. He couldn't risk that right now, so he just let his caretaker do what he was doing. As the bath continued, Jack couldn't help when his mind wandered back to when he vaguely remembered his father bathing him as a young child.

Was... Was this how good parents were supposed to be? Jack didn't know and he let himself think over all of it. How kind and gentle the giants had been with him so far. They treated him like a baby, yes, but that's what they thought he was, right? A young child? So, were they trying to parent him? Jack didn't know. All he knew was that he was starting to resent his birth father and that caused fear in him. Was he being selfish again? Was he being bad again?

The fear gripped at him and so did the reminder that this was how good parents were. Jack didn't notice how his breathing had become erratic until he found himself cradled in Soundwave's arms, the poor mech clearly unsure what to do. He was doing what he could in an attempt to sooth Jack, for which he was grateful, but that wasn't what he needed. So, instead, he just broke down and began to cry, wishing that his own parents had been so supporting and gentle with him. That he had more chances like this to be himself, to be a child.

When Jack was finally calmed once again, his small episode over, he was suddenly glad that he had limited experience with Soundwave. He had only encountered the Decepticon twice before now - once, during that whole escapade with the space bridge and the dark energon that started him into this whole mess (had it really been months since then? If felt like that was years rather than months) and then, after that, during the whole thing with the Energon Harvester - and both experiences had been passive. Soundwave, having had no real interest in the children, had just taken what he wanted and left. While any other Decepticon would have probably tried to squash or capture them, Soundwave had been perfectly aware they couldn't do anything against him and so did not worry about them.

 _Though, come to think of it..._ Jack thought, as he mulled over his experiences, he had actually only met Megatron once. That one time wasn't where his anxiety and fear of the mech was coming from, though, as Megatron had been incapable of doing anything at that time. The only one he had extended experience around was Optimus and all he had ever really known was that the Decepticons were _bad_ , but he never stopped to ask himself _why_ they were considered bad. There was, of course, their name, but that could have been branded to them in an attempt to demonize them. Yes, they'd done a lot of bad things, but Jack bet that, if he asked, he'd learn a lot about horrifying things the Autobots had also done.

War was war and, Jack recalled, there was never really a right or wrong. At least, that's what he remembered his mom telling him when he was younger. Jack suddenly felt conflicted - should he keep being wary and cautious around the two future-Decepticons, or should he just give them the benefit of the doubt? Jack was confused and sat there in the bath, which he had been put back into once he calmed down, thinking. Soundwave had left him alone, probably to go check on his new mechanimal siblings, so he mulled over what he thought he knew and what was so far contradicting that.

 _I have to go home eventually,_ Jack thought. _I have to find a way somehow, but... Maybe... Maybe I can learn the truth and then confirm it with Optimus... He knew Megatron, the three of them seem close so..._ Jack sighed as he closed his eyes and decided to just let this happen. Maybe, if he was meant to be here, then he would automatically be returned home at some point. After all, he had struggled to say his owns names, so it was extremely unlikely that he would be able to learn to communicate anytime soon. _Just roll with the punches, Jack,_ he thought. _You wanted to pull a Miko, so this is your own fault. May as well make the best of it._

Besides, what else could he do in this kind of situation?

* * *

 **This...ended a lot differently than I expected it to. But, I'm sure all of you are happy that I finally updated this story. I hope to get out the next chapter of _The Twin_ shortly after this, so you also have that to look forward to. For those of you who read this story, but not my other one, I have a poll up for those who have read my original Transformers story, _Imaginations the Limit_. The poll is about weather or not I should rewrite that story once I'm finished with my current Transformers stories. This poll will be up until _both_ stories, _Unconventional Way to Heal_ and _The Twin_ , have be completed. Current standing on the poll are as follows:**

 **Yes - 5 votes.**

 **No - 0 votes.**

 **Remember that I am asking weather or not that story should be re-written. Anyways, I'm sorry for taking forever to get this chapter out, I really don't have any excuses for it. I hope you enjoyed it, however.**


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